CANBERA (Alliance News) - The Japanese yen trimmed its early decline against its major rivals and advanced on Tuesday's European deals, as demand for safe-haven assets improved on renewed worries over negotiations surrounding Greece bailout debt.
After a Eurogroup meeting in Brussels on Monday, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chaired the meeting, told a news conference that a list of reforms proposed by Greece last week in return for further financial aid was "far from complete".
Dijsselbloem refused to release final EUR 7.5 billion installment of EUR 240 billion bailout to Greece, as he was not impressed with the pace of implementation of reforms.
Representatives of the Greek government and the country's international creditors will begin "technical level" talks in Brussels Wednesday to discuss the country's economic reforms and unlock further funding.
EU finance ministers are gathering in Brussels today to discuss the implementation of a banking union, as well as a European fund for strategic investments.
Mixed data on Chinese inflation released early in the day underscored deepening weakness in the world's second-largest economy. While consumer inflation quickened in February, easing concerns about the risk of deflation, the producer price inflation continued to slide, extending a record stretch of declines to 36 months.
The yen climbed to 183.24 against the pound, 130.87 against the euro and 122.32 against the franc, off early 6-day low of 183.91, 4-day lows of 131.86 and 123.33, respectively. The next possible upside target for the yen is seen around 182.00 against the pound, 129.5 against the euro and 121.5 against the franc.
The yen reversed from an early low of 93.40 against the aussie, strengthening to an 11-day high of 92.74. If the yen extends gain, 92.00 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.
The yen edged up to 96.08 against the loonie, after having fallen to a 5-day low of 96.46 at 11:25 pm ET. Next key resistance for yen may be found around the 95.00 region.
The yen strengthened to 88.48 against the kiwi for the first time since February 13. Extension of the yen's uptrend may take it to a resistance around the 87.5 mark.
Looking ahead, US NFIB small business index for February and US wholesale trade sales data for January are slated for release in the New York session.
At 10:30 am ET, High-level panel discussion on "The Western Balkans - 15 Years of Economic Transition: Policy Challenges and Solutions Ahead" moderated by IMF European Department Director Poul Thomsen will be held in Vienna. Austrian National Bank Governor Ewald Nowotny, along with Croatian National Bank Governor Boris Vujcic and Macedonia Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski, will be attending in the panel discussion.
Five minutes later, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will testify before the Lords Economic Affairs Committee in London.
At 2:00 pm ET, Bank of England's Executive Director Paul Fisher will attend at a panel discussion at the UCL Law Faculty, in London.
After half-an-hour, External BOE MPC Member Ian McCafferty will deliver a speech at the Durham University Business School.
