EU agrees on fund package of 500 billion euros to stem Greek contagion
2010-05-10
May 10 (Bloomberg) -- The euro rose as European leaders agreed on a loan package worth 500 billion euros ($643 billion) to prevent Greece’s fiscal woes from triggering a broader sovereign-debt crisis. Europe’s common currency gained against 13 of its 16 major counterparts as European Union leaders announced details of the plan. The yen slid against all major peers as prospects the Greek crisis won’t spread damped demand for Japan’s currency as a refuge.“The fact they’ve been trying to put together something over the weekend is very positive,” said Phil Burke, chief dealer for global foreign exchange and rates at JPMorgan Chase in Sydney. “Risk has been put back on. The market seems to be happy to take back some of the short positions on the euro.” A short position is a bet that an asset will fall. The euro climbed to $1.2883 as of 9:28 a.m. in Tokyo from $1.2755 on May 7, after falling 4.1 percent last week, the most since the five days ended Oct. 24, 2008. The 16-nation currency rose to 118.52 yen from 116.81 yen. The dollar gained to 91.99 yen from 91.59 yen. Austrian Finance Minister Josef Proell said 440 billion euros will be loan guarantees and 60 billion euros will be from the EU existing budget. The loan guarantees were the “biggest sticking point until the very end,” Proell said. Group of 20 finance officials started a conference call to discuss the Greek debt crisis at 7 a.m. Seoul time, according to a South Korean finance ministry official who declined to be identified because the talks are private.
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