Forexpros – The euro traded lower against the U.S. dollar Tuesday, as concerns over Greece’s debt swap deal and new worries about the outlook for the global economy pressured risk appetite.
EUR/USD hit a low of 1.3103 and a high of 1.3226 during the session, subsequently consolidating at 1.3122 down 0.72%
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3043, the low of February 15 and resistance at 1.3225, the session high.
The single currency selling was ignited when news hit the wire that only 20% of Greek’s private bond holders have agreed to the bond swap settlement criteria.
Greece has set a 75% participation limit to proceed with the debt swap plan. The under enthusiastic response from private creditors has made it clear that the Greek debt issue is far from resolved.
The goal of the debt swap, which runs until March 8, is to lower by 53.5% the total amount of private debt to prevent an uncontrolled default.
Adding to the bearish sentiment, the euro zone’s gross domestic product fell 0.03% from the third quarter, confirming the February 15 estimate.
The data fuelled concerns over the outlook for global growth, coming one day after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said his government will target expansion of 7.5% in 2012, the lowest GDP target in eight years.
Elsewhere, the euro fell sharply against the yen, with EUR/JPY tumbling 1.70% to hit 105.96, and climbed against the pound, with EUR/GBP climbing 0.23% to hit 0.8349.
In other news Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.5% in a widely expected decision.
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