ECB announcement knocks down the Euro across the board

FXStreet (Bali) - The Euro is accelerating losses across the board, in response to Greek-related headlines hitting the wires late in the US session, noting that the ECB has decided that it will lift the current credit waiver on Greek government bonds, no longer being accepted as collateral, starting on Feb 11th.

The Euro has lost over 70 pips against the US Dollar post ECB announcement, while the slide against the Yen was the sharpest seen, with the rate moving from 134.20/30 all the way down to trade marginally sub 133.00. It is worth noting, however, that the ECB's ELA program (Emergency Lending) for Greek NB was renewed, which means that liquidity will not be cut off.

The market focus appears to have shifted to the potential negative implications of the ECB statement, now anticipating that the Troika-Greece lending agreement may be in jeopardy too. Risk-off moves are currently in full swing, with the USD and the Yen the strongest against the commodity and European currency complex. U.S. equities have also erased gains on the ECB news, barley above 0 ground following sizeable gains pre-ECB announcement.