Forex News: Markets Focus on Greece Ahead of Meeting of Finance Ministers

Focus in today’s trading has fallen squarely on Greece. The Greek parliament approved a 2013 austerity budget overnight that is intended on convincing the EU to release the next round of bailout funds. European finance ministers will meet later today in Brussels, where they are not expected to approve the next round of bailout payments, as the full Troika report on Greece has yet to be released. However, something has to be done to prevent the Greek government’s default when 5-billion Euros worth of bills will be redeemed on November 16.

Otherwise, there were few economic releases from Europe in today’s session, and one of the only pieces of chatter was a Spanish-like declaration from Prime Minister Monti, who said that Italy doesn’t plan on asking for a bailout out and isn’t contemplating using the ESM fund.

In Japan, the gross domestic product fell 0.9% in the third quarter, which met expectations. BoJ Governor Shirakawa said that the bank will continue aggressive monetary easing until a 1% inflation goal is in sight.

The Euro erased some earlier gains during the European session in currency markets. EURUSD is currently trading slightly above the key 1.2700 level; a 2-month low at 1.2689 could provide support, while resistance might come in by the 200 day moving average, currently at 1.2819.

The meeting of European finance ministers begins at 16:00 GMT, and we will likely hear more comments from officials regarding Greece and other pressing issues as the meeting gets closer to starting.

In North America, there are no significant economic releases scheduled for today. Although it was Veterans Day yesterday, US markets will still be open today.

EURUSD Daily: November 12, 2012

— Written by Benjamin Spier, DailyFX Research

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Source: Daily fx