Greece completed a successful completion of the buyback program, despite all the doubts. The debt-struck country will therefore lower its total debt by around 21 billion euros.
This was a prerequesite for receiving the next tranche of aid, which is scheduled to be released on December 13th. However, this was already priced into EUR/USD, which remains capped by the 1.30 line.
Greece needed to extend the deadline for submitting bonds, but this delay wasn’t that bad – it eventually raised the money. However, it eventually reached 31 billion euros, enabling Greece to erase 21 billion euros of debt, more than the target of 20 billion.
According to various reports, Greek banks submitted 14 billion bonds into the program, while the rest came from foreign banks.
EUR/USD managed to break above the 1.2960 line after ZEW reported a positive business sentiment figure for Germany. 1.30 is already harder to tackle.
For more on the single currency, see the EUR/USD forecast.