BLBG:Euro Declines, Ends 2-Day Gain, on Inconclusive Greek Aid Talks
The euro fell after European finance ministers failed to agree on a debt-reduction package for Greece, planning another meeting next week after more than 11 hours of inconclusive talks today.
Finance ministers “made progress in identifying a consistent package of credible initiatives aimed at making a further substantial contribution to the sustainability of Greek government debt,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement after chairing the meeting. Finance chiefs will meet again on Nov. 26, Juncker said.
“It’s definitely not a constructive thing,” Sacha Tihanyi, a Hong Kong-based strategist at Scotiabank, said in reference to the lack of agreement among euro-area finance officials. “It looks like there’s a bit of internal conflict there. Given the extent to which the euro has dropped and the strength of the move, it’s just going to be driving some U.S. dollar short-covering.”
The euro fell 0.5 percent to $1.2756 as of 1:07 p.m. in Tokyo from yesterday. It lost 0.3 percent to 104.36 yen. Japan’s currency declined 0.2 percent to 81.82 per dollar.
Markets in the U.S. are closed tomorrow for a holiday.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mariko Ishikawa in Tokyo at mishikawa9@bloomberg.net; Kristine Aquino in Singapore at kaquino1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Garfield Reynolds at greynolds1@bloomberg.net
