Investing.com -- EUR/USD took currency traders on a wild rollercoaster ride on Monday, dipping below 1.10 in overnight before rebounding sharply as Greece moved closer to a default on its sovereign debt and a subsequent exit from the euro zone.
Following hours of frenetic, unpredictable trading, EUR/USD settled at 1.1242 up more than 2.4%. The rally marked the highest one-day move by the euro against its American counterpart in more than two and a half months. The currency pair traded in a broad range, falling to a near monthly-low of 1.0976 before skyrocketing to a session-high of 1.1278.
EUR/USD likely gained support at 1.0886 the low from June 1 and was met with resistance at 1.1411, the high from June 22.
Less than 48 hours after the Greek parliament approved a July 5 referendum that could decide the nation's fate in the euro zone, Standard & Poor's downgraded Greece's credit to a CCC- from a previous rating of CCC. Unless Greece improves its economic outlook immeasurably, S&P indicated the nation is inevitably headed toward a default, adding that there is a 50-50 chance the nation will leave the euro.
In Athens, officials announced that banks will remain closed until Thursday after the Greece government imposed a set of capital controls on Sunday aimed at preventing a bank run. On Sunday night queues multiplied outside a host of Greek banks in Athens, hours before the government imposed a law limiting citizens to ATM deposits of €60 a day. Earlier in the day, the European Central Bank capped funding from its Emergency Liquidity Assistance fund to Greek banks at €89 billion in a move that forced the Greek government to close the banks. The banks had been borrowing money from the emergency fund to cover a high volume of deposit withdrawals in recent weeks.
Greece prime minister Alexis Tsipras surprisingly scheduled a public referendum on early Sunday morning after high-level talks with its international creditors fell apart on Friday. Before talks collapsed, the creditors reportedly offered Greece a €15.5 billion cash-for-reforms package, which included significant pension reforms and hikes on Value Added Taxes. The package reportedly would have allowed Greece to cover its debts through November. A yes vote in Sunday's referendum could compel Greece to return to the negotiating table with its troika of creditors from the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and the EU.
Tsipras appeared confident that European officials would not remove Greece from the euro zone even if Greek voters rejected the current proposal in a no vote on Sunday.
"Let me be frank they will not kick us out of the euro zone," Tsipras said in an interview with Greek State TV. "Let me explain why, the costs are immense. Their plan is not to kick us out of the euro zone, their plan is to end hope that in Europe there can be an alternative policy."
Germany chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, reiterated on Monday the importance of holding the euro together if Greece leaves the area, while adding that the euro zone is in better position to cope with contagion than it had been during a previous Greek debt crisis several years earlier.
Bond prices jumped upon the developments, as yields on U.S. 10-Year Treasuries plummeted 15 basis points to 2.32%. Yields on German 10-Year bunds dipped 13 basis points to 0.79%.