By: Barbara Zigah

The U.S. Dollar continues to struggle against the common currency Euro as investor expectations that an interest rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve were dashed. That follows yesterday’s release of manufacturing data from the key Mid-Atlantic region of the United States which pointed to a slowdown in growth. As reported at 2:45 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the U.S. Dollar traded against the Euro at $1.4310, staying well below the 7-week peak struck on the EBS trading platform in the beginning of the week.

Most analysts agree that any possible gains the Euro might achieve against the greenback will be tempered by ongoing concerns of a Greek debt restructuring, however. Earlier this week, Finance Ministers from the Eurozone agreed to provide an emergency loan to Portugal, though issues with Irish and Greek debt remain unresolved. Since early May, the Euro has lost nearly 4% of its value against the U.S. currency. This was prompted initially by a rout in commodity prices, especially oil and silver, which prompted investors to unwind higher risk assets. This week, at least, investors have seen some signs of stabilizing commodity prices which, according to one forex strategist in Singapore, should encourage more risk taking.