There was little change in the Euro which again held close and just below the recently struck 1-month high; analysts say that fresh impetus will be needed to retest the September peak, though it is unlikely to find it today even with the conclusion of the E.U. summit meeting. The Japanese Yen is also trading lower against the greenback, held there as investors hedge their bets ahead of the Bank of Japan policy announcement expected later today.
As reported at 12:55 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the EUR/USD pair was trading at $1.3067, just off of the 1-month peak of $1.3140 struck on Wednesday. The USD/JPY pair traded at 79.33 Yen, steady from late U.S. trading and close to the 2-month peak of 79.47 Japanese Yen struck yesterday. The EUR/JPY pair was trading at 103.67 Yen close to the 5-month peak struck yesterday when the pair touched on 104.145 Yen.
Traders had little hopes that the E.U. summit would yield any news sufficiently positive to give the Euro a boost. Indeed, the key issue of direct recapitalization for troubled banks within the E.U. was seen to be one such issue that raised consternation with German and French officials at loggerheads even over that strategy’s implementation date.