Investing.com - The euro remained lower against the U.S. dollar on Monday, as concerns that the debt crisis in the euro zone could escalate weighed ahead of an auction of French government debt later in the day.
EUR/USD hit 1.2626 during European afternoon trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2666, easing down 0.08%.
The pair was likely to find short-term support at 1.2623, Friday’s low and a 16-month low and resistance at 1.2789, the high of January 11.
Earlier Monday, ratings agency Moody’s said it was maintaining France’s triple-A rating and stable outlook for its debt for now, but added that it would update markets in the first quarter of 2012.
The announcement came after Standard & Poor’s cut France’s triple-A rating by one notch on Friday and said it would decide shortly whether to downgrade the triple-A rating on the euro zone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
S&P also downgraded eight other euro zone sovereigns, including Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Portugal.
France was preparing to auction as much as EUR8.7 billion in short-term government debt later in the day.
Meanwhile, the threat of a default by Greece resurfaced after talks aimed at negotiating a restructuring of the country’s debts broke down on Friday, amid disagreements over how much money investors will lose by swapping their bonds. The talks were set to resume later in the week.
The euro was fractionally lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP dipping 0.02% to hit 0.8275.
Also Monday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi was to testify before the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, while markets in the U.S. were to remain closed for a national holiday.
EUR/USD hit 1.2626 during European afternoon trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2666, easing down 0.08%.
The pair was likely to find short-term support at 1.2623, Friday’s low and a 16-month low and resistance at 1.2789, the high of January 11.
Earlier Monday, ratings agency Moody’s said it was maintaining France’s triple-A rating and stable outlook for its debt for now, but added that it would update markets in the first quarter of 2012.
The announcement came after Standard & Poor’s cut France’s triple-A rating by one notch on Friday and said it would decide shortly whether to downgrade the triple-A rating on the euro zone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
S&P also downgraded eight other euro zone sovereigns, including Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Portugal.
France was preparing to auction as much as EUR8.7 billion in short-term government debt later in the day.
Meanwhile, the threat of a default by Greece resurfaced after talks aimed at negotiating a restructuring of the country’s debts broke down on Friday, amid disagreements over how much money investors will lose by swapping their bonds. The talks were set to resume later in the week.
The euro was fractionally lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP dipping 0.02% to hit 0.8275.
Also Monday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi was to testify before the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, while markets in the U.S. were to remain closed for a national holiday.