Euro Slips With U.S. Futures on Greece as Treasuries Gain

The euro slipped with U.S. equity-index futures, while Treasuries rallied as Greek voters handed victory to a party that’s pledged to renegotiate the terms of an international bailout. Asian stocks dropped with crude oil and industrial metals.

The 19-nation euro dropped 0.3 percent to $1.1168 by 11:12 a.m. in Tokyo, near a more than 11-year low reached last week after the European Central Bank announced plans to expand asset purchases. The yield on 30-year Treasuries fell to a record low. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures sank 0.6 percent and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) lost 0.3 percent. U.S. crude declined 1.1 percent and nickel slid 1.2 percent. China’s yuan slumped a second day.

Greece’s Syriza won a more decisive victory than polls predicted, coming within two seats of an absolute majority with most votes counted. Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras had pledged to secure a writedown of the nation’s debt and end austerity measures, polciies that outgoing Prime Minister Antonis Samaras warned could trigger an “accidental” exit from the euro. Germany’s Ifo Business Expectations survey is due, while fighting in Ukraine spread to the port city of Mariupol.

“The consensus until the end of last week was Greece would extend the duration of its debt and stay in the euro,” Shoji Hirakawa, chief equity strategist at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo said by phone. “But it’s now not easy to predict that they’ll actually agree to this.”

Bloomberg

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