Forexpros – The euro rose against the yen on Tuesday, as investors snapped up the European currency on sentiment that E.U. policymakers will formally hand over rescue funding to Greece now that the country has wrapped up restructuring its debts with private creditors.
In Asian trading on Tuesday, EUR/JPY hit 108.40, up 0.20% up from a low of 108.17 and off a high of 108.52.
The pair sought to test support at 107.52, Monday’s low, and resistance at 108.52, the earlier high.
Greece and its private creditors recently agreed to terms surrounding debt restructuring, and even though technically the debt swap constitutes a default, the deal does open the way for European policymakers to free up a EUR130 billion rescue fund for debt-ridden Athens.
Athens was required to restructure its debts in exchange for bailout funding.
Later this week, E.U. policymakers are set to review Greece’s deal with private creditors and grant final approval, although markets viewed the meeting as more of a procedure and less of a potential hurdle.
Europe is a key export market for Asia, and blue skies returning to Greece’s horizons sparked demand for stocks across Asia early Tuesday.
Meanwhile in Tokyo, the Bank of Japan is expected to address interest rates later Tuesday and no changes in monetary policy are expected.
Also out of Japan, the country’s Tertiary Industry Index, which measures the change in the total value of services purchased by businesses, was down 1.7% in January from December, which was weaker than expected.
The yen, meanwhile, was down against the pound and down against the Australian dollar, with GBP/JPY rising 0.06% to 128.71 and AUD/JPY up 0.27% at 86.71.
Aside from monetary policy meetings taking place at the Bank of Japan later Tuesday, in Europe, the U.K. is to release industry data on house price inflation, as well as official data on the trade balance.
Switzerland is to produce government data on producer price inflation, an important gauge of consumer inflation.
In the eurozone, reports are to be released on the ZEW economic sentiment index for Germany and for the entire single currency bloc.
Later in the day, ECB President Mario Draghi is due to speak, while eurozone finance ministers are scheduled to hold talks throughout the day.
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