Investing.com - The euro fell to a session low against the yen on Wednesday, following reports that European Union officials are considering withholding Greece’s second bailout until after a general election in April.
EUR/JPY hit 102.49 during European afternoon trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 102.53, shedding 0.49%.
The pair was likely to find support at 101.81, Tuesday’s low and an almost one-week low and resistance at 103.48, the session high and a three-month high.
The euro’s losses came after Reuters reported that EU officials are looking at ways to delay the second bailout and still avoid a default amid concerns that political leaders in Greece are not fully committed to implementing harsh austerity measures demanded by international creditors.
Without a bailout, Greece faces the threat of defaulting when a EUR14.5 billion bond redemption comes due on March 20.
Euro zone finance ministers have replaced a meeting aimed at signing off on Greece’s bailout scheduled to take place later in the day with a conference call, after failing to receive assurances on how Athens plans to implement fiscal reforms approved in a parliamentary vote on Sunday.
The yen had slumped to a three month low against the euro earlier after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly announced that it would increase the size of its asset-purchase program by JPY10 trillion in an attempt to boost growth and protect the economy from the effects of the strong yen.
The euro was also lower against the U.S. dollar and the pound, with EUR/USD shedding 0.42% to hit 1.3077 and EUR/GBP losing 0.38% to hit 0.8336.
Also Wednesday, official data showed that the euro zone’s gross domestic product shrank by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% during the fourth quarter and grew by just 0 .7% during 2011 as a whole.
Germany’s economy contracted less-than-expected in the final three months of 2011, shrinking by a seasonally adjusted 0.2%, slightly better than expectations for a contraction of 0.3%.
EUR/JPY hit 102.49 during European afternoon trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 102.53, shedding 0.49%.
The pair was likely to find support at 101.81, Tuesday’s low and an almost one-week low and resistance at 103.48, the session high and a three-month high.
The euro’s losses came after Reuters reported that EU officials are looking at ways to delay the second bailout and still avoid a default amid concerns that political leaders in Greece are not fully committed to implementing harsh austerity measures demanded by international creditors.
Without a bailout, Greece faces the threat of defaulting when a EUR14.5 billion bond redemption comes due on March 20.
Euro zone finance ministers have replaced a meeting aimed at signing off on Greece’s bailout scheduled to take place later in the day with a conference call, after failing to receive assurances on how Athens plans to implement fiscal reforms approved in a parliamentary vote on Sunday.
The yen had slumped to a three month low against the euro earlier after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly announced that it would increase the size of its asset-purchase program by JPY10 trillion in an attempt to boost growth and protect the economy from the effects of the strong yen.
The euro was also lower against the U.S. dollar and the pound, with EUR/USD shedding 0.42% to hit 1.3077 and EUR/GBP losing 0.38% to hit 0.8336.
Also Wednesday, official data showed that the euro zone’s gross domestic product shrank by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% during the fourth quarter and grew by just 0 .7% during 2011 as a whole.
Germany’s economy contracted less-than-expected in the final three months of 2011, shrinking by a seasonally adjusted 0.2%, slightly better than expectations for a contraction of 0.3%.