EUR/USD sits at 1.2955, hardly changed from a North American close Monday around 1.2950.
News that Japan plans to buy debt issued by the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) later this month has lent the single currency some support, although the psychological 1.3000 level is proving a tough nut to crack.
Japan’s Finance Minister said overnight “The euro zone is planning to issue a large amount of bonds in a cooperative manner late this month to raise funds to assist Ireland, and it is appropriate for Japan, as a major economy, to buy some of the EFSF bonds to bolster confidence in Europe’s efforts,” adding “We’re thinking about buying more than 20% of the amount ” of EFSF securities to be issued in the initial round.
Euro zone data cupboard is pretty bare today:
07:30 GMT: Bank of France business sentiment for December
European stocks look set to open marginally firmer this morning. Financial bookmakers see DAX up around +0.3%, CAC 40 up around +0.5%
