The euro fell in Asian trade on Wednesday and shares eased after eurozone finance chiefs said they had failed to agree on a deal to unlock the latest batch of crucial bailout cash for Greece. Ministers said in a statement at the end of talks that ended in the small hours that they would meet again next Monday “for further technical work on some elements of the package”.
The news sent the euro diving from recent highs against the yen, while it also lost almost a US cent from its intra-day peak against the dollar. In afternoon trade the single currency bought $1.2747 and 104.30 yen after hitting $1.2820 and 105.07 yen before the announcement from Brussels. It had finished in New York Tuesday at $1.2818 and 104.70 yen. The dollar, which had touched a seven-month high of 81.97 yen in the morning, bought 81.81 yen in the afternoon. Traders were left disappointed as they had been buying the euro on expectations an agreement would be made in Brussels, while Jean-Claude Juncker, who presides over the Eurogroup has said there were “good chances of an agreement”.
