There hasn’t been too much real change during the Asian overnight trade, with EUR/USD marginally lower at 1.3985 compared to a European close Monday around 1.4020, while USD/JPY at 94.75 is pretty much unchanged.
North Korea continues to sabre rattle, calling the US hostile, and is reportedly ready to test fire more short range missiles. The North Korean situation is probably helping contain risk appetite a little, but it doesn’t appear to be a major factor in the financial markets.
A couple of articles in The Telegraph will have been noted, which could be euro negative. One focuses on the fact that Germany’s financial regulator BaFin has warned that toxic debts of the country’s banks could blow up “like a grenade”, unless they take advantage of the government’s bad banks plans. Another highlights the travails of German sports car manufacturer Porsche.
Bloomberg is also carrying an article highlighting the fact Porsche is in danger of losing some of the 17.3 bln euros in profit recorded from holding VW options, because it may not have the money to exercise them.
