By: Barbara Zigah

In Asian trading, the Euro earlier edged higher yet stalled just short of chart resistance as market players take a wait-and-see stance on Greece’s upcoming Parliamentary vote for additional austerity measures. Without passage of the new legislation, the next disbursement of the 5th tranche of the Greek bailout loan from the special purpose E.U./IMF mission will not be made. While most Greek citizens are aware of that fact, the vote for the highly unpopular austerity measures may be in question, with several Socialist party members already voicing their dissent. As reported at 3:16 p.m. (SGT) in Singapore, the Euro was trading against the U.S. Dollar at 1.4270, though it had briefly touched on an intra-day peak near $1.4330.

The Greek voting begins tomorrow in Parliament, followed by an implementation vote the following day. One analyst in Tokyo noted that if approved, investors are likely to begin rebuilding their positions in higher risk assets. However, any bounce that the Euro might get on Greek parliamentary approval he believes will be limited to around $1.45.

In the near term, markets players are more focused on the possibility of a Greek default than on resolution to its debt problems but if the country can avoid near-term default, its likely that hedge fund operators which had earlier trimmed their higher risk positions might put them back on.