Mid-Day Report: EUR/USD Breaches 1.28, USD/JPY Consolidates Above 85
Dollar’s rally against Euro and Sterling extend further today with EUR/USD breaches 1.28 level before recovering mildly. Yen crosses are generally lower and are back pressing yesterday’s low. Nevertheless, USD/JPY remains relative firm above 85 level as the greenback also extends rally against European majors. Japan Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda pledged to “monitor economic conditions carefully and respond appropriately” in an unscheduled press conference today but declined to comment on intervention. Also, Noda said there is no planned conference call with G7 FMs on currency volatility. That’s somewhat disappointing to those who are at least looking for Japan to step up the rhetoric on yen’s appreciation.
Euro is indeed the worst performer this week on concern that if global recovery slows, the situation in Eurozone will be worse due to the austerity measures to cut fiscal deficits.