The Euro held steady against the U.S. Dollar during the Asian trading session but continues to be under pressure following relatively pessimistic comments made by Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, which rekindled concerns of the debt crisis there. On the website of the Christian Democratic Union which she leads, Merkel posted that there was still a lot of work left to be done on the Eurozone project, and she was unsure that it would turn out well, but was optimistic. Traders, who have had little in the way of market moving events recently, grabbed hold of the comments and used them as an excuse for the Euro correction.
The safe haven Japanese Yen was the beneficiary of investors’ fears, the EUR/JPY fell to a low of 96.46 Yen, not far from the 6-week trough struck on Monday. As reported at 11:24 a.m. (JST), against the U.S. Dollar, the Euro was trading at $1.2289, up from the low of $1.2216 struck overnight.
In the U.S. Ben Bernanke continued his testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, basically echoing Tuesday’s comments; he said that the Fed was ready to provide economic support if needed, but failed to outline the specific steps.