Euro up on new loan pledges to eurozone banks

by mymazaa.com

The euro edged up in Asia on Wednesday, supported by positive expectations over the European Central Bank's second batch of low-interest loans to eurozone banks.

The single currency fetched $1.3482 in Tokyo afternoon trade, compared with $1.3466 in New York late Tuesday. Against the yen, the euro was unchanged at 108.34.

"There is a strong sense of anticipation," a senior trader at a major Japanese trust bank said as the market awaited a flood of new loans to eurozone banks from the ECB's long-term refinancing operation (LTRO).

The bank, in the second such operation in two months, is offering to lend as much money as eurozone banks want at a rock-bottom interest rate of 1.0 percent for a period of three years.

The operation is aimed at averting a credit squeeze in the 17-nation single-currency area.