Common Currency Euro Eases Off of 7-week Peak against U.S. Dollar

By: Barbara Zigah

In Asian trading today, the common currency Euro fell from an earlier 7-week peak against the greenback, but is poised to rise higher in the short term if lingering doubts over the U.S. economy’s recovery resurface. As reported at 4:21 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Euro traded against the U.S. Dollar at $1.2578, a decline of .4% and off the $1.2663 high struck on the EBS trading platform; the common currency met resistance at $1.2673 which was the high on May 21^st. One forex manager in Tokyo commented that he sees the Euro doing some short-covering perhaps even to $1.2800.

The U.S. Dollar appears to be weighted down by weaker than expected key economic indicators of the U.S. economy. In the past week, data which has revealed that the U.S. economy is experiencing moderating consumer spending, factory output and housing starts are creating concern among investors. The U.S. Dollar Index, which gauges the greenback’s value versus a basket of major currencies, rose slightly to 84.235 .DXY, an increase of .2% from yesterday’s decline, but hovering near a 2-month trough of 83.825 .DXY which was struck earlier this week. Versus the Japanese Yen, the U.S. Dollar was trading close to 87.49 Yen and not far off from last week’s 7-month trough of 86.96 Yen struck on the EBS trading platform.