JPMorgan, Nomura stay bullish on euro

The euro will rebound even as concern mounts that the Greek debt crisis will worsen, analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Nomura Holdings Inc. predict. The 17-nation currency may outperform the dollar and yen this year even if the region's policymakers put off agreeing on a resolution to the debt crisis as long as it happens "in a stable manner," said Tohru Sasaki, Tokyo-based head of Japan rates and foreign-exchange research at JPMorgan. European Central Bank authorities, including President Jean-Claude Trichet, have pushed back against German plans to lengthen the maturity of Greek bonds, leaving open only the option to persuade bondholders to voluntarily reinvest the proceeds of maturing debt into new securities. A Greek default would hobble the ability of the nation's institutions to tap the ECB for emergency funds and weaken the fabric of the 53-year-old European Union and its 12-year-old single currency. "The market will calm down as long as policy makers don't come up with a drastic decision next week, like something that urges private investors to share Greece's debt burden," Sasaki said at a Bloomberg seminar in Tokyo yesterday. "The broad weakness of the dollar and yen will remain in the face of resilient growth worldwide. I personally think the euro could reach 120 yen this year." From / Gulf News