Published by Mark Smith-HalvorsenThe euro traded low in foreign exchange markets last night (August 1st) at $1.4250.According to the Wall Street Journal, citing EBS via CQG, the currency moved slightly from Friday's level of $1.4397, while the pound slipped from $1.6414 to $1.6320. Fixed-income and foreign-exchange analyst at MF Global in New York Jessica Hoversen said: "From a broader perspective it suggests the EU summit did nothing to stem contagion. While it seems like a very distant topic given that we've been focusing on the debt ceiling, [European debt is] still an issue."The news source noted that market optimism follow the news of a potential resolution to the US debt ceiling issue was damaged by poor manufacturing data from the nation.Steve Barrow, head of G10 currency research at Standard Bank, recently told Reuters that sterling is currently benefiting from the ongoing issues in Europe and the US debt ceiling discussions.For more information on foreign exchange treasury services and risk management, visit our Corporate FX site