By Monami Yui and Lucy Meakin -
Nov 5, 2012 4:50 PM GMT+0800
The euro declined to the lowest in
almost eight weeks against the dollar amid concern Greece will
struggle to secure bailout funds, risking the nation’s future in
the European currency bloc.
The 17-nation euro declined versus 12 of its 16 major counterparts after Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras pledged yesterday that proposed wage and pension cuts will be the last, with the plan due to face parliamentary approval as early as Nov. 7. The Dollar Index (DXY) rose for a third day before tomorrow’s U.S. presidential election. Australia’s dollar strengthened after retail sales exceeded economists’ forecasts.
“The market is increasingly losing confidence that Greece might get its extended bailout money because the governing coalition is unraveling or disagreeing more and more,” said Imre Speizer, an Auckland-based strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC) “We’ve seen the euro fall and it looks like it wants to go lower.”
The euro weakened 0.4 percent to $1.2790 at 8:39 a.m. in London after dropping to $1.2778, the lowest level since Sept. 11. The common currency declined 0.5 percent to 102.73 yen. The yen appreciated 0.1 percent to 80.32 per dollar.
Samaras, speaking to lawmakers of his New Democracy Party in Athens, said Greek society won’t tolerate any more austerity measures. The first parliamentary vote on the latest package is scheduled to take place as early as Nov. 7.
In the U.S., employment and the economy are central themes before tomorrow’s election, with President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney each trying to convince voters he can best energize the economic expansion.
The winner will also have to contend with the so-called fiscal cliff of more than $600 billion of federal spending cuts and tax increases that will take effect at the start of next year unless Congress acts.
The Dollar Index, which IntercontinentalExchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against currencies of six U.S. trading partners, gained 0.2 percent to 80.713.
The Reserve Bank of Australia meets to review monetary policy tomorrow.
“Today’s data was a little bit better than expected, and the Aussie might see a modest boost here,” said Joseph Capurso, a currency strategist in Sydney at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), the nation’s largest lender.
The Australian dollar climbed 0.2 percent to $1.0360 after rising to $1.0420 on Nov. 2, the strongest since Sept. 28.
-- With assistance from Mariko Ishikawa in Tokyo and Kristine Aquino in Singapore. Editors: Nicholas Reynolds, Mark McCord
To contact the reporters on this story: Monami Yui in Tokyo at myui1@bloomberg.net; Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net
The 17-nation euro declined versus 12 of its 16 major counterparts after Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras pledged yesterday that proposed wage and pension cuts will be the last, with the plan due to face parliamentary approval as early as Nov. 7. The Dollar Index (DXY) rose for a third day before tomorrow’s U.S. presidential election. Australia’s dollar strengthened after retail sales exceeded economists’ forecasts.
“The market is increasingly losing confidence that Greece might get its extended bailout money because the governing coalition is unraveling or disagreeing more and more,” said Imre Speizer, an Auckland-based strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC) “We’ve seen the euro fall and it looks like it wants to go lower.”
The euro weakened 0.4 percent to $1.2790 at 8:39 a.m. in London after dropping to $1.2778, the lowest level since Sept. 11. The common currency declined 0.5 percent to 102.73 yen. The yen appreciated 0.1 percent to 80.32 per dollar.
Samaras, speaking to lawmakers of his New Democracy Party in Athens, said Greek society won’t tolerate any more austerity measures. The first parliamentary vote on the latest package is scheduled to take place as early as Nov. 7.
Greece Negotiations
Negotiations between Greece and the so-called troika of international creditors have sought to keep the country inside the European monetary union. In Athens, coalition leaders are debating the terms of the latest package, while in other European capitals politicians are debating how to ease the country’s debt burden.In the U.S., employment and the economy are central themes before tomorrow’s election, with President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney each trying to convince voters he can best energize the economic expansion.
The winner will also have to contend with the so-called fiscal cliff of more than $600 billion of federal spending cuts and tax increases that will take effect at the start of next year unless Congress acts.
The Dollar Index, which IntercontinentalExchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against currencies of six U.S. trading partners, gained 0.2 percent to 80.713.
Australian Dollar
Australia’s dollar approached a five-week high against the greenback after the statistics bureau said retail sales climbed 0.5 percent in September, after increasing 0.3 percent in the previous month. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 0.4 percent gain.The Reserve Bank of Australia meets to review monetary policy tomorrow.
“Today’s data was a little bit better than expected, and the Aussie might see a modest boost here,” said Joseph Capurso, a currency strategist in Sydney at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), the nation’s largest lender.
The Australian dollar climbed 0.2 percent to $1.0360 after rising to $1.0420 on Nov. 2, the strongest since Sept. 28.
-- With assistance from Mariko Ishikawa in Tokyo and Kristine Aquino in Singapore. Editors: Nicholas Reynolds, Mark McCord
To contact the reporters on this story: Monami Yui in Tokyo at myui1@bloomberg.net; Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net
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