Euro strengthens against the dollar to top the $1.40 mark

Following the EU summit at which leaders in the region agreed to expand a rescue fund for indebted countries, individuals involved in FX trading saw the euro rise to a seven-week high against the dollar.

Paul Robson, senior foreign exchange strategist at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group in London, told Bloomberg that the market appears to be "putting a positive spin on Europe's deal".

He noted that stock markets have been boosted by the announcement and that there is also room for the region's single currency to strengthen.

At the EU summit, leaders persuaded bondholders to accept 50 per cent losses on Greek debt and they agreed to boost the rescue fund for the region's indebted countries to €1 trillion (£870 billion).

At 10:48 BST this morning (October 27th), the 17-nation currency gained 0.7 per cent to reach $1.4007 and it also made a 0.3 per cent advance to 106.22 yen.

On Tuesday, sterling fell 0.3 per cent against the euro, dropping to 87.19 pence.

Posted by Clive Arneil