- Euro zone finance ministers’ meeting continues
- Press conference scheduled for 2200 GMT
- Schaeuble: Today we are aiming to finalize a decision
- Juncker: We have to conclude today
- de Jager: Can’t approve bailout until Greece meets all obligations
- Venizelos: We are ready to conclude deal and initiate PSI
- Further demands made on private sector
- Escrow account for Greece back on the table
- IMF insisting on 120% Greek debt-to-GDP target
- Troika analysis currently sees debt-to-GDP at 129% by 2020
- Ministers juggling bailout terms in attempt to close debt-to-GDP gap
- YLE: Greece and Finland sign deal to cover bailout collateral
- Belgian consumer confidence falls to nearly 3-year low
- ECB bought no bonds last week for first time since Aug
- Italy’s Dec budget surplus revised lower
- Italian 10-year yields fall to lowest since Oct
- US markets closed for holiday
It was all about the Eurogroup meeting today as the euro ebb and flow was dictated by pronouncements and leaks. Schaeuble’s optmistic comments sparked a rally to 1.3276 but it was beaten back down by less-rosy developments including the IMF insistance on 120% and talk of a further haircut. A quick spike lower to 1.3229 hit some stops but the pair has recovered back to 1.3240.
Ranges elsewhere were tight and grew tighter as the day wore on. Risk trades performed well but it was all about the Chinese reserve ratio cut rather than Greece.
CHF and NZD were the top performers while USD and JPY lagged.
