By: Barbara Zigah

The markets’ continuing skepticism as to whether a possible solution to the Eurozone debt crisis will be found by the region’s finance ministers meant that the Euro remained under pressure in Asian trading. As the first day of the two-day EcoFin meeting concluded, the ministers said that they have agreed to use the emergency facility as a bond insurance vehicle which could offer partial protection against principal losses on newly issued bonds. Also, there was more talk of the International Monetary Fund stepping in to provide funds to fiscally troubled, but as previously, there has been no confirmation yet from the IMF.

As reported at 10:23 a.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Euro was trading at $1.3320, off of the high of $1.3443 struck on Tuesday. More recently, at 2:27 p.m. (JST), the Euro was trading higher at 1.3340. One dealer in Australia said that disappointments have been too numerous to count, and the markets are tired of the lack of action by the authorities and many don’t want to be involved in the Eurozone’s mess any longer. With an alternative view, one trader said that investors want to believe that the Eurozone’s leadership won’t allow the Euro to collapse, and are afraid that they’ll miss the rally.