By: Barbara Zigah

Following last week’s steep fall, the common currency Euro bounced in early Asian trading, rising against the U.S. Dollar and Japanese Yen. As reported at 2:25 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Euro gained 0.3% against the greenback to trade at $1.463; late last week, the Euro lost 3.3% and struck a 3-week trough of $1.4310 following unsubstantiated rumors that Greek was considering a pullout from the Eurozone. Versus the Japanese Yen, the Euro traded at 116.20 Yen, an increase of 0.7%; last week it struck a 5-week low against the Japanese currency, trading at 115.23 Yen.

One trader in Japan said that the Greek rumor triggered the Euro’s decline, but that long Euro positioning is still what is driving the market. That was confirmed by the U.S. CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Comm.) which released data that showed that long position contracts in the common currency rose to its highest level in nearly four years to 99,516 contracts, a significant increase from the previous week’s 68,279 contracts.

Whether or not the Euro’s decline will continue is unclear; the common currency recently fell below a key support level. The ongoing crises there continue to put pressure on the Euro and the recent Greek rumor will likely be investigated further to determine its credibility.