With less than 24 hours to go before members of the Greek Parliament vote on the Austerity Package, sealing the fate of Greece in the process, the euro is holding steady against the U.S. dollar. The next 48 hours could determine the overall sentiment in the global financial markets for weeks and possibly even months to come which makes it extremely important to know the approximate timing for the votes.

The first and most important vote will be on the details of the Austerity Package. This is the one that will elicit the most significant reaction from investors. The Parliamentary session begins at 10am local time which is 8am London Time / 3am NY Time. The vote is expected to be done right in time for the NY open at 3pm Local time / 1pm London Time / 8am NY Time.

Thursday’s vote is on the procedures for implementation. This could still stall the process but should be more of a technicality than anything else. This process will last longer because MPs will be giving individual speeches which will then be followed up with the vote by midnight / 10pm London Time / 5pm NY Time.

The outcome of the vote will determine whether the EUR/USD races above 1.45 or crashes towards 1.40.


Kathy Lien is Director of Currency Research at GFT, and runs KathyLien.com.