Euro Crashes to Four-Month Low Against US Dollar

LONDON, May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The euro has suffered a serious battering this week, tumbling to a four-month low of $1.2747 against the US dollar on Wednesday, May 16, as investors study the Greek situation with a growing sense of unease and reports emerge of Greek depositors withdrawing funds from Greek banks as the country's fate hangs precariously in the balance.

According to news reports, Greek investors withdrew a whopping €700 million from the country's banks on Monday, May 14, even as ratings agency Moody's slashed the credit rating of 26 Italian banks on Tuesday, May 14, doing little to sooth frayed nerves and prompting investors to ditch the single currency in favour of safer haven options such as the US dollar.

The single currency has already slipped to a four-month low of $1.2747 and investors are nervously looking to see if it will now move through the 2012 low of $1.2626 to test the psychological level of $1.2500 as the Greek saga intensifies.

Take a position on the euro

Spread betting is an excellent way to speculate in volatile market conditions such as these, enabling you to take a position, and potentially profit, irrespective of whether prices are moving up or down. With spread betting, you can speculate on over 12,000 financial instruments including indices (such as the Germany 30, France 40, Wall Street and FTSE 100) as well as currency pairs such as EUR/USD and GBP/USD.

Spread betting is a tax-free* alternative to conventional trading and offers investors the added advantage of netting a profit irrespective of whether prices are going up or down. This means that you could potentially profit by going short on the EUR/USD currency pair, even when the eurozone economic outlook remains bleak.

All you have to do is determine whether you believe prices will rise or fall in the coming weeks and take a position accordingly. If you were right and prices move in the direction you had predicted, you make a profit, else you net a loss. Find out more about how to spread bet with Finspreads.

Summary

Spread betting offers numerous advantages over conventional shares dealing and is especially beneficial during volatile market conditions. Find out more about the benefits of spread betting with Finspreads.  

Spread betting is a leveraged product which can result in losses greater than your initial deposit. Ensure you fully understand the risks before you start trading.

*Spread betting is currently exempt from UK stamp duty and Capital Gains Tax (CGT). However, tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Please seek independent advice if necessary.

About Finspreads:

Finspreads is a leading online financial spread betting firm, offering access to thousands of instruments on the world's financial markets.

The company pioneered fully interactive online spread betting in 1999 and continues to invest in technology to ensure that its service remains amongst the market leaders.