Cecile Lefort And Fx

(Reuters) - The euro's rebound from four-month lows stalled on Tuesday, failing to break above technical resistance, though traders said selling could be limited at least until an informal meeting of European leaders this week. Traders have been reducing their massive bets against the common currency in the past couple of days, taking note of prospects - however slender - that EU leaders may agree measures to bolster investor confidence in the euro zone on Wednesday. With speculators' short positions on the euro at a record high, traders were wary of the potential for short-squeeze, despite worries about stability of the banking system in Spain and political gridlock in Greece. "If someone is selling the euro now, I would rather use that as a chance to take profits (from euro short ...

(Reuters) - The euro hit a fresh two-month high versus the dollar on Wednesday, supported by hopes that Greece may soon agree to austerity steps needed to secure a second bailout and avoid a disorderly default. The single currency also hit a seven-week peak against the yen, its rise gaining steam due to stop-loss buying. The yen retreated broadly on the crosses, with traders saying the technical outlook for cross/yen pairs had improved after their recent breach of some technical resistance levels. The euro surged 0.5 percent against the yen to 102.30 yen. It rose as high as 102.44 yen at one point on trading platform EBS, the euro's highest level versus the Japanese currency in about seven weeks. The single currency rose 0.2 percent versus the dollar to $1.3281, having touched a two- ...

(Reuters) - Greek resistance to the strict conditions attached to a bailout fund on Tuesday sapped recent momentum in markets spurred by hopes the global economy is improving, and the euro fell on renewed fears of a messy debt default. The Australian dollar leapt to a six-month high but stocks turned negative after the central bank held rates steady at a review when markets had positioned for a rate cut. Opinions were divided over whether the wrangling over Greece's debt restructuring talks would eventually be resolved or trigger contagion across other vulnerable euro zone countries, tempering risk-taking investments. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose as much as 0.4 percent to its highest since September 1, then reversed direction, and last stood barely ...

(Reuters) - The euro edged higher against the dollar and the yen on Tuesday but touched a record low versus the Australian dollar and looked set to remain under pressure in 2012 on worries over Europe's debt crisis. The euro gained a bit of reprieve as a rise in Asian equities underpinned risk appetite and spurred short-covering, helping it stay above an 11-year low against the yen touched the previous day. Still, worries about high sovereign debt levels and lack of policy solutions to the region's 2-year-old debt crisis were expected to push the euro lower in the coming weeks and months, even if short-covering may offer the euro some intermittent support. "The concerns that investors have, have certainly not gone away at all," said Callum Henderson, global head of FX research with ...

(Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on Tuesday as the first trading day of 2012 in most markets brought renewed appetite for riskier assets, while U.S. crude jumped more than 1.5 percent to above $100 a barrel on escalating tensions between Iran and the West. Stronger-than-expected manufacturing data from China boosted sentiment in Asia, but Europe's drawn-out debt crisis continued to cloud the outlook and dragged on the euro, which struggled off a decade low against the yen. The official Chinese purchasing managers' index, which indicated a slight rise in factory activity in December, also lifted industrial metals such as copper on hopes of increased demand. "China's PMI number looks positive, better than most people had expected earlier on," said Huang Yiping, chief economist for emerging ...

(Reuters) - The dollar held some of the gains it made on Monday as it spiked higher on safe-haven bids following news of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. North Korean state television reported the demise of the leader of the reclusive nation, with aspirations to be a nuclear-armed power, which had begun the process of transferring power to his son Kim Jong-un. The older Kim was said to have suffered a heart attack on a train on Saturday. Against its Japanese counterpart, the dollar bought 77.94 yen, after spiking to a session high of 78.18 yen from around 77.86 yen shortly before the news of Kim's death. The dollar index .DXY was at 80.430, after rising as high as 80.493 from 80.303 before the news. "Risk proxies are selling off, and forex is taking the lead from equities ...

(Reuters) - The euro held steady on Thursday, but still hovered near an 11-month low hit the previous day as signs the European debt crisis was far from over prompted investors to sell risky assets and bolstered demand for the dollar. The euro was little changed at $1.2986 after having fallen to as low as $1.2945 on Wednesday, the lowest level since January 11, on trading platform EBS. The next major support is found at the year's low, $1.2860 on January 10. The euro inched up 0.1 percent against the yen to 101.38 yen. On Wednesday, the euro had dipped to as low as 101.10 yen, nearing a 10-year low of 100.77 yen hit in October. The single currency has come under pressure this week after last Friday's European Union summit, seen as critical to reach a solution to rein in the debt crisis, ...

(Reuters) - The euro on Tuesday clung to the previous day's huge gains after hopes for a new EU debt plan sparked a correction in a deeply bearish market, though sentiment remains fragile as European leaders have disappointed many times before. The euro, which on Monday surged 2 percent for its biggest daily percentage gain in 15 months, held steady at $1.3642. Monday's rally followed an Franco-German pledge on Sunday that they would do what is necessary to shore up banks, settle the Greek crisis and help growth in Europe. Market players said the single currency could rise further in the near term given a recent build-up in short euro positions, but added that a sustained rebound was unlikely. "An image of the euro falling without limit is receding, but unless there is some kind of ...

(Reuters) - The euro sank to an eight-month low on Monday on selling by macro funds and is poised to fall further after the Greek government said the debt-ridden country will miss a deficit target set just months ago in a massive bailout package. Stocks, commodities and growth-linked Asian currencies ground lower, prompting both leveraged and macro funds to unwind their long positions in the risk-sensitive Australian dollar, sending it to a 10-month low at $0.9592. With Europe bitterly divided over the best cure for the spiraling debt crisis and with the possibility of a Greek default looming larger than ever, the euro was likely to keep falling in the coming days, players said. "A Greek default is a sort of Pandora's box no one wants to open. While some markets seem to have priced in ...