Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has lots of work ahead of him upon entering office and will be judged by his voters, European partners and the markets.
At least on his first day on the job, the euro is on its way up. It may be a “buy the rumor, sell the fact” reaction for now as many analysts rush to calm fears of a “Grexit” or if you wish “Alexit”.
European partners have congratulated Tsipras and his SYRIZA party for the big victory but have also said that Greece must respect the international accords it has signed. Tsipras wants an end to austerity and debt restructuring in order to allow Greece to prosper.
Apart from the impact on the Greek bailout, the landslide victory for the anti-austerity ideas also has implication for other European countries, especially Spain. Also in the Eurozone’s fourth largest economy, a young radical left leader is sweeping the masses: Pablo Iglesias. The new Podemos party had big achievements in the elections for the European Parliament and is set to make a grand entry into the Spanish parliament in elections due for November.
For EUR/USD, the pair began the trading week with a gap down to just below 1.11, but this Sunday gap was quickly closed. It continued higher above 1.12 and reached 1.1275, just below the bounce highs seen on Friday. While this could be seen as a higher low, the bounce in the euro shows that markets are not very afraid of Tsipras or any option of an Alexit of Greece from the euro-zone.
Yet in the bigger scheme of things for the euro, the ECB’s massive QE program could more than overshadow anything that happens or doesn’t happen in Greece.
Opinion: EUR/USD En-Route To Parity – Nordea
Here is how it looks on the chart:
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