Thursday, 18 Nov 2010

EUR Rises as Irish Debt Crisis Seems Near an End

The euro rose against the dollar and yen today as a resolution to the Irish debt crisis seems to be near. Central Bank of Ireland Governor Patrick Honohan, who is also a member of the European Central Bank's governing council, said Ireland is likely to strike an agreement on the order of "tens of billions" of euros worth from the International Monetary Fund, the ECB and the European Union.

The euro rose to $1.3638, after declining to $1.3448 on Nov. 16, the lowest level since Sept. 28. The single currency gained 1.1 percent to 113.83 yen, from 112.55 yesterday.

The dollar rose to its strongest level in six weeks against the Japanese yen the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Thursday its November index of general business activity came in at 22.5 from 1.0 in October, more than 4 times economists' expected. Unemployment claims also showed a smaller than expected increase.

The dollar rose to 83.50 yen and touched 83.79 yen, its strongest level since Oct. 5.