Investing.com -- EUR/USD surged nearly 1.5% on Wednesday moving above 1.13 for the first time since late-February, as global bond prices continued to slide.
The Greek sovereign debt crisis and the timing of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve remained in focus, as the euro continued to retreat away from parity with its American counterpart. A wave of analysts had forecasted parity for some point in 2016 back in early-March when the euro fell to a 12-year low at 1.0456. Since then, however, the euro is up more than 8.5% after settling on Wednesday at 1.11349.
EUR/USD hit a high of 1.1370 on Wednesday above a session-low of 1.1176 on a choppy day of trading. The pair likely gained support at 1.1121 the low from May 4 and met resistance at 1.1415, the high from Feb. 23.
Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen created a mild sell-off in U.S. markets when she sent warning signals of the potential dangers that could ensue from high valuations in equities markets. Speaking at the Institute for New Economic Thinking's Finance and Society conference in Washington, Yellen cited the scant returns in government debt due to lower interest rates as a factor for shifting investments into stocks.
On Wednesday, U.S. bonds extended its losing streak to its fourth consecutive session, as the yield on 10-Year Treasuries rose more than seven basis points to 2.252% -- its highest level since early March. Yields on 30-Year Treasuires, meanwhile, rose by 10 basis points to 3.006% to reach a five-month high.
The Fed is hoping to avoid a "taper tantrum," that occurred under Yellen's predecessor Ben Bernanke in 2013 when he hinted that the U.S. central bank could begin reducing the amount of long-term bond purchases it made through its quantitative easing program. Bernanke initiated three rounds of quantitative easing starting in November, 2008, to keep interest rates low in order to stimulate economic growth.
Moreover, Yellen indicated that the Fed is hoping to prevent rapid movements in long and short-term rates.
‘‘We saw this in the case of the taper tantrum in 2013 where there was a very sharp upward movement in rates and you do have divergent monetary policies, potentially around the world,’’ Yellen said.
In Europe, meanwhile, prices on 10-year German bunds and 10-year French bonds rose for the eighth straight session, amid low liquidity. Greece reportedly sold more than €1.13 billion in six-month T-Bills, liquidating the full amount it had sought to raise in two auctions in May. Athens also made a modest interest payment to the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday, ahead of a larger €751.61 million payment due on May 11.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, plunged 1.34% to 93.99, the lowest level since late-February before slightly rebounding to 94.22.