By: Barbara Zigah

The Euro continues to come under pressure in Asian trading, hovering near to a 16-month trough against the U.S. Dollar, and analysts expect more declines ahead. As the first full trading week of the new year draws to a close, market players worry that there is little relief in sight, with two key bond sales ahead next week. As a result, a large sell-off has been taking place, driven primarily by hedge fund operators. As reported at 11:21 a.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Euro was against the greenback at $1.2794, slightly off the $1.2770 low struck yesterday on the EBS trading platform. Analysts say that some support for the common currency is pegged near $1.2600.

A market economist in Tokyo said that markets are waiting for news on the ESM, specifically a promise that the mechanism’s fire power has been bolstered to accommodate any possible fiscal difficulties by a larger Eurozone economy. However, most believe that that news won’t be forthcoming in the near term.

Today, markets will focus on the U.S. Dollar and the release of private sector jobs data from the U.S. Labor Department. Following a positive report issued by ADP yesterday, analysts are anticipating an increase of some 150,000 new jobs.