The yen gained against most of its major counterparts as concern that the U.S. and Europe will struggle to contain their debt burdens spurred demand for Japan’s currency as a refuge.
The euro held yesterday’s slide against the dollar after Standard & Poor’s said Greece will partially default once European officials push through a second bailout plan for the nation.
The dollar was 0.2 percent from a record low against the Swiss franc as U.S. lawmakers remained at odds on how to raise the country’s debt limit and before data today that may show pending home sales dropped in June.
The yen extended gains against the dollar amid speculation Japanese authorities will refrain from currency market intervention until after the U.S. debt limit is resolved.
The New Zealand dollar advanced toward an all-time high after the central bank kept interest rates unchanged and said it would likely remove a 50-basis-point “insurance” cut made after a February earthquake.
EUR/USD: the pair holds at $1.4330-$ 1.4380.
GBP/USD: the pair holds at $1.6310-$ 1.6340.
USD/JPY: the pair decreased in Y77.70 area .
EMU data at 0900GMT includes the business climate indicator and economic
confidence indicator, which are expected to show some mild decline.
UK data is limited to the CBI Distributive Trades data at 1000GMT, which will provide a useful update on the health of the High Street
going into Q3.
US data starts at 1230GMT when initial jobless claims are expected to rise 2,000 to 420,000 in the July 23 week after see-sawing in the previous weeks. Seasonal adjustment difficulties related to the usual auto retooling period should continue to be a factor.