By Hiroyuki Kachi
The euro hit a one-month low against the dollar in Asia trade
Tuesday as fears lingered about the Greek debt situation, while the
dollar chalked up a fresh high for more than two months against the
yen.
The euro briefly touched as low as $1.0931 earlier in the
session, its lowest since April 28, before bouncing back a bit to
$1.0939. That was lower than $1.0976 late Monday in North
America.
"With Greece-related incentives emerging again, the euro
downside is accelerating," said Michiyoshi Kato, senior vice
president of forex sales at Mizuho Bank.
"In any case, we may expect the euro to weaken toward parity
(against the dollar)," said Mr. Kato, noting that the eurozone has
introduced powerful monetary easing steps, partly in the form of
negative interest rates.
Concerns emerged over the weekend as Greek Interior Minister
Nikos Voutsis said Sunday that the government won't have the money
it is due to repay the International Monetary Fund next month
unless it strikes a deal with international creditors over further
rescue funding.
Greece is scheduled to repay EUR1.6 billion ($1.76 billion) to
the IMF between June 5 and June 19.
A Greek government spokesman stated Monday that the country has
the responsibility to repay its obligations both internally and to
its international creditors, and that the government aims to have a
deal by the beginning of June.
The common currency was sold broadly against its major peers,
going as low as Y133.10 from Y133.49, its cheapest since April 30.
The single currency also fell to GBP0.7080 midday from
GBP0.7096.
In other currency trade, the dollar rose to as high as Y121.85
around 0450 GMT, the highest since March 10. That was higher than
Y121.57 overnight but still short of the year's high of Y122.04 set
on March 10 amid a lack of catalysts to lift the greenback
higher.
Market participants are now looking for fresh trading cues in
U.S. economic data later this week such as April durable goods
orders and January-March revised gross domestic product. These
could provide further evidence that the U.S. economy maintains a
faster growth rate than Japan and the eurozone, eventually allowing
the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.
Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said Monday the central bank
expects to follow a "gradual and relatively slow" trajectory of
short-term interest-rate increases over the next three to four
years to bring borrowing costs back to "normal" levels.
The WSJ Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against a basket
of major currencies, was up 0.21% at 86.53.
Interbank Foreign Exchange Rates At 00:50 EST / 0450 GMT
Latest Previous %Chg Daily Daily %Chg
Dollar Rates Close High Low 12/31
USD/JPY Japan 121.82-83 121.55-56 +0.22 121.82 121.52 +1.75
EUR/USD Euro 1.0939-42 1.0976-79 -0.34 1.0983 1.0932 -9.57
GBP/USD U.K. 1.5453-55 1.5470-72 -0.11 1.5476 1.5432 -0.80
USD/CHF Switzerland 0.9470-74 0.9448-52 +0.23 0.9475 0.9448 -4.74
USD/CAD Canada 1.2310-15 1.2311-16 -0.01 1.2330 1.2306 +5.95
AUD/USD Australia 0.7831-35 0.7822-26 +0.12 0.7841 0.7812 -4.14
NZD/USD New Zealand 0.7313-19 0.7306-12 +0.10 0.7323 0.7296 -6.14
Euro Rate
EUR/JPY Japan 133.26-30 133.46-50 -0.15 133.52 133.10 -8.04
Source: ICAP PLC
Write to Hiroyuki Kachi at Hiroyuki.Kachi@wsj.com