Euro is struggling to overcome earlier losses today, thanks to concerns about the periphery, sparked by the latest news out of Portugal. While the euro hit a five-week low against the US dollar earlier in the session, the 17-nation currency is struggling back toward the break-even point, paring its earlier losses.
The latest news out of Portugal includes political tension as the prime minister has refused to accept the attempted resignation of the foreign minister. Other government officials are attempting to resign as well. The news of this political crisis in Portugal is pushing up bond yields for periphery countries, and once again bringing focus to the countries in the eurozone that continue to struggle.
As a result of the concerns in the eurozone, the euro dropped to a five-week low against the US dollar, and at one point had lost more than one per cent to the Japanese yen. Safe haven has been in demand today.
However, the euro has been fighting its way back against the greenback, paring its losses and attempting to rally.
At 12:56 GMT EUR/USD is down to 1.2976 from the open at 1.2978, which is still an improvement over the session low of 1.2923. EUR/GBP is down to 0.8493 from the open at 0.8565. EUR/JPY is down to 129.2805 from the open at 130.6100.
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