The euro advanced today on the speculation that Asian countries will buy European bonds despite the debt crisis that still threatens stability of Europe’s economy.
According to Financial Times, Klaus Regling, Chief Executive Officer of the European Financial Stability Facility, said that investors from China and other Asian countries are planning to buy Portuguese bailout bonds after the EFSF will start selling them in June. The euro also gained versus the dollar after the report showed that the US durable goods orders slumped by 3.6 percent in April.
Fundamentals remain negative for the shared 17-nation currency, though. The Italian retail sales fell 0.2 percent in March, according to Istat. GfK reported that the German Consumer Climate indicator slipped to 5.5 for the month of June from the 5.7 value for May. The report said:
The worsening of the debt crisis in Greece and continuing high energy prices are dampening the optimism that German consumers have been exhibiting up to now. As a result, the still very positive general conditions in Germany, such as falling unemployment and the strong economic upswing, are currently being somewhat overshadowed.
EUR/USD rose to 1.4157 from 1.4086 and EUR/JPY climbed to 115.91 from 115.46 as of 3:17 GMT today. EUR/GBP went to 0.8676 up from 0.8654, following the drop to 0.8640.
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