Euro/Aussie up on Greek Bailout Hopes

With investor expectations that leaders of the European Union will lay out their proposal for a Greek bailout package when they meet later in the day in Brussels, the single currency Euro rose versus the Japanese Yen and the U.S. Dollar in Asian trading.

Supporting their expectations was the Times of London report which confirmed that E.U. leaders will announce a rescue plan to help the fiscally troubled nation.  Yesterday, Euro-zone prime ministers and the president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, held a conference call, and it was believed that Greece was the main topic, though no confirmation of the details has been forthcoming.

As reported at 1:01 p.m. (SGT) in Singapore, the Euro was trading up versus the U.S. Dollar at $1.3791; late trading in New York yesterday was at $1.3734.  Versus the Japanese Yen, the Euro held steady at 89.86 Yen not far off yesterday’s New York trading of 89.96 Yen.

Another high yielding currency, the Australian Dollar, was also up in Singapore, trading at $0.8884, a slight increase from yesterday’s late trading of $0.8750.  The Australian Dollar was helped by positive economic news showing that the unemployment rate slipped to 5.3% during the last quarter of 2009, lower than the expected 5.6% predicted by economists.  That positive news supported investor belief that the Reserve Bank of Australia may move to raise rates sooner than expected.