Euro benefits from growing risk aversion in markets

There have been some significant moves in global foreign exchange markets in the past few days as a pronounced pick-up in risk aversion sees currencies break out of well-defined trading ranges.

The four major currencies have been confined to relatively narrow trading ranges against each other over the past few months, following big exchange rate moves in the second half of last year and the opening quarter of 2015.

In particular, the euro found a floor in the spring and became much more stable, after having suffered big losses in the second half of 2014 and early 2015.