The euro traded near a five-week high against the yen as speculation the European Union will bail out Greece boosted demand for the currency before regional finance ministers meet in Brussels. The yen was close to a three-week low versus the dollar on concern the Bank of Japan will take extra credit-easing steps at its two-day policy meeting starting tomorrow and after Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said last week the government needs to stop the currency rising. The pound ended two days of gains against the dollar after a private report showed U.K. home sellers raised asking prices by the smallest amount for March on record as the supply of available properties increased. Markets will be looking for confirmation of the supposed bailout deal done by the euro-zone members for Greece. The risk is the Bank of Japan says something about more monetary easing of some sort and, if that came to be, it would clearly be a positive for euro-yen. Rupee opened at 45.5500/5700 against its previous closing of 45.4300/4400 and expected to trade in 45.4500/45.6500 Range today.
The Indian rupee weakened today, weighed down by gains in the dollar against major currencies and losses in the local share market. The rupee is likely to weaken tracking the stock market and movement of dollar against majors today. But overall sentiment in the medium term is still bullish for the rupee. Inflation data for the month of February is due around noon and the market is keenly watching for cues on the likely central bank action at its policy review in April.
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