The euro rose today as speculation that Greece is making progress in convincing creditors to reduce the nation’s debt improved market sentiment and eased pessimism about the euro.

Greece’s Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said that he made a headway in the debt-swap discussions and is “strongly committed” to reach an agreement. The European Union and

(eToro Blog) Japan reported that industrial production rose 4.0% in December. This was much better than analyst expectations of a rise of 2.8%. This follows a 2.7% drop in November and is a positive sign for the Japanese economy. Japanese manufacturers have been struggling to get production back to pre-earthquake

(eToro Blog) Putting a little pressure on the Euro yesterday was news that Portuguese bond yields touched on record highs, suggesting to investors that Portugal is quickly becoming the new Greece. However, that pressure was brief as the Euro-Dollar is currently trading higher at 1.3185. Current support is

On Monday, the yield on the 5-year Portuguese note spiked. The yield hit a record for the post-euro era of 22.69%. The trade may have been fueled by the turn of events in Greece. The general perception of the market may be to accept Greece’s default as a given.

Last year, markets appeared frightened by the

The Japanese yen jumped today amid growing concerns about a potential outcome of the European Union leaders’ meeting, especially about the uncertain future of Greece.

Greece remains the main source of risk aversion on Forex market. Some economists speculate that the current bailout wouldn’t be enough to rescue the country from its credit problems.

(eToro Blog) The EU summit and Greek debt negotiations filled Wall Street with worries and the Dow is down 85 points, the Nasdaq is down 10 points and the S&P 500 is down 9 points at the time of writing this report. Traders on Open Book are primarily short on the Dow (DJ30) with average limits at 12,450 and stops

Canadian dollar is pulling back today, heading lower as risk appetite fades away, and as oil prices drop. Commodity currencies are struggling right now on risk aversion and a higher US dollar. It’s not surprise that the loonie is experiencing difficulties as well.

Risk aversion seems to be the driving force today. Thanks to the latest news out of