By: Barbara Zigah
The fiscal problems in Greece and worries about whether or not aid would be secured to bail out the debt troubled nation continue to put pressure on the common currency Euro; today in Asian trading the Euro fell to a new 3-week trough versus the U.S. Dollar.
Adding to investor nervousness is the E.U. summit, to be held later this week, and the disparate opinions among finance ministers as to whether or not aid should be provided to Greece. The effectiveness of the implementation of a common currency within the Euro zone is being questioned, and has driven a sell-off of the Euro, which has fallen nearly 10% since late last year. Analysts expect that the Euro will remain weak until all uncertainty regarding the Greek fiscal crisis is removed.
As reported at 5:40 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Euro was trading against the U.S. Dollar at $1.3498, a decline of .2%. Against the Swiss Franc, the Euro is trading at 1.4340 Swiss Francs, and hovering close to the 17-month low struck last week when it hit 1.4318 Francs. The Euro has also fallen against the Japanese Yen, hitting the lowest trade in more than a week when it struck 122.18 Yen.