As the working tempo of the New Year gathers pace, there is no respite for the euro.
The fine detail, on its own though, means very little – any more than do daily market movements. But, on balance, the direction of travel is still downwards, with the euro at its lowest level against the dollar for 15 months and French bond yields at an uncomfortably high level.
The Hungarian situation is especially interesting, with the government calling for a standby loan from the International Monetary Fund, to avoid a currency crisis of its own. This adds still more stress to an already stressed system.
The political instability generated by the Iranian situation is also fuelling the crisis, which means that gold is doing well.
However, we have yet to reach meltdown proportions, even if some pundits reckon 2012 is the year of the euro collapse. But then there is always the BBC on which to rely (above). They will keep us on the straight and narrow with their informed commentary.
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