By: Brabara Zigah
With investors expecting further evidence that the American economy is recovering steadily, the common currency slipped against the U.S. Dollar, striking a new 4-month low in Asian trading today.
At 2:42 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Euro traded against the greenback at $1.2992, however earlier in the trading session on the EBS trading platform it had slipped to a low of $1.2965, the lowest level in four months; in the past two days, the Euro has lost more than 2% of its value against the U.S. Dollar.
Also pushing the Euro lower is a recent European Union proposal that, if passed, would compel individuals and entities that finance banks to shoulder what may amount to huge losses, should the bank fail.
Investors will await the non-farms payroll numbers from the United States later this afternoon, and economists are forecasting that a big rise in new jobs is expected, given the recent ADP report. A consensus of economists is forecasting a rise of 135,000 yet numbers from a recent Reuters poll are as high as 4500,000 which would offer a welcome boost to the U.S. Dollar.
The non-farms payroll report will be released by the U.S. Labor Department at 1:30 p.m. (GMT). The U.S. Dollar Index, a gauge of the greenback’s strength versus major currencies, rose to 80.956 .DXY, an increase of .2%.