Safe haven seeking market players helped to push the common currency Euro up against the Japanese Yen during the Asian trading session but the EUR/JPY pair held below yesterday’s 2-week peak. The pair traded at 130.30 Yen, a gain of 0.1% but was still below yesterday’s high of 131.05 Yen, a level not seen in nearly two weeks. Likewise the Euro edged higher against the greenback with the EUR/USD pair firming at $1.3338 but remaining below Monday’s session peak of $1.3375.
The Euro’s recent support has come from the release of a Bundesbank report which said that the European Central Bank’s forward guidance or outlook on low interest rates wasn’t an “unconditional commitment,” comments which gave rise to investors’ speculation that the ECB’s mid-range outlook might include an interest rate move despite an assertion to the contrary in the central bank’s July monetary policy decision.
Markets will be looking to gain some insight from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s minutes which will be released on Wednesday and analysts expect that the minutes will suggest that a scaling back of the Fed’s current QE plan might occur even as soon as next month.