The euro reached the lowest level in four months against the US dollar and the lowest in three months versus the Japanese yen today on fears that the European crisis is escalating. The currency was higher on the day though.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said that the crisis may persist for another two years. Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece’s sovereign credit rating from B- to CCC. Moody’s Investors Service lowered ratings of several Spanish banks, including the nation’s largest banks — Banco Santander (Spain) SA and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA.
The euro reacted negative on the news, but managed to close above the opening level. Perhaps it profited from speculations about quantitative easing in the United States, but most likely it is just a bounce on a bear market. The shared European currency has fallen for fifth consecutive sessions against the greenback after all, and markets usually do not go in one direction for a long time. On the other hand, it was the third day of gains against the pound.
EUR/USD was down from 1.2691 to 1.2641, the low has not seen since January 16, and closed at 1.2781. EUR/JPY dropped from 100.63 to 100.20, the lowest price since February 6, before closing at 100.98. EUR/GBP rose from 0.8032 to 0.8075.
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