By: Barbara Zigah

In Asian trading today the common currency fell further, approaching crucial support levels, following unrelenting pressure from hedge fund operators on escalating Eurozone concerns. Unsubstantiated rumors that the Greek government may call for a snap election added to investor worries and triggered speculative selling of the common currency.

As reported at 3:02 p.m. in Tokyo the Euro slipped to $1.4060, a fall of 0.3% but rebounding from the earlier struck $1.4034. One trader in Japan said rumors of hedge fund operators actively selling the common currency and stop-loss selling were also adding to the decline; a drop to $1.38 soon is expected.

Other commodity linked-currencies also took a hit in Asian trading, with the Australian Dollar moving lower against the U.S. Dollar, trading at $1.4052 a decline of 1%. Some traders note that the Aussie is bowing to pressure following the news that GE Capital, a major mortgage company there, intends to further pull out of operations in Australia and New Zealand with the deal, amounting to AUD 5 billion, expected to close this week.

The U.S. Dollar Index, a gauge of the greenback’s strength versus other major currencies, is approaching the 76.366 .DXY peak struck earlier in the week; earlier it stood at 76.073 .DXY, a 0.3% gain.