Risky Currencies Fall on Greek Worries

Greece’s political leaders failed again to find some common ground and form a coalition government to move the country forward, with the likely outcome first another election within the next few weeks and later a possible withdrawal from the Eurozone. The repercussions are already being felt in the common currency which earlier struck its lowest level in almost four months, but is also weighing across the board on high-risk currencies.

As reported at 1:13 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the EUR/USD was trading at a low of $1.2878 on the EBS trading platform before recovering a few pips to $1.2891, a 0.2% drop from Friday’s trade in New York. Traders expect the Euro to move lower over the next few weeks, as the ECB is likely to offer some easing measures in an attempt to shore up the area’s economy.

Despite some softer data than expected, the U.S. Dollar is still seen as a safe haven asset and shaken investors turned to the greenback away from the Australian Dollar; the AUD/USD pair moved below parity to $0.9996, a 5-month low, before rebounding to $1.0017, still a loss of 0.1% from Friday’s New York trade. The New Zealand fell to a 4-month low against the greenback, with the NZD/USD pair trading at $0.7795.