A down day for the EUR/USD today after it stared the session at $1.0547 in the Asia-Pacific. The pair spent the initial hours of the session trading off $1.0533 although gains were also limited. The pair traded up through $1.0550 as traders covered short positions following last night’s moves but the move ran aground as euro-yen took on a heavy tone. The cross ran into persistent selling pressure, which pushed euro-dollar down to $1.0530 around mid-morning. There was some chatter of demand from Japanese accounts propping up the euro from $1.0510. That demand was seen stretching into $1.0500, where there was also mention of barrier-defensive interest, and large stops on any break lower. From there, euro-dollar losses intensified as more positions were reduced and the pair then began to grind away at the reported bids at $1.0505/00. After a few hours, the pair broke below $1.0500, the first time since Jan. 2003 and set off stops below for a low of $1.0495 so far. Euro-dollar was last at $1.0515. Below the low, the Jan 10, 2003 session low comes in at $1.0475, with demand noted there as well and then $1.0463 below, the low traded on Jan. 9.
