Euro hammered on Greek 'No' vote, market volatile

By Ian Chua and Gyles Beckford SYDNEY (Reuters) - The euro fell sharply on Monday, while the safe-haven Japanese yen rallied after Greeks voted to reject terms of a bailout, setting the country on course to financial ruin that could splinter Europe if creditors refuse further aid. The common currency slid to a six-week low of 133.700 yen , from 136.185 late on Friday. It has since halved those losses in volatile trade to stand at 134.785. Versus the greenback, the euro came within a whisker of a one-month trough of $1.0955 set a week ago. It fell as far as $1.0969, before recovering a bit of ground to $1.1009. With nearly half of the votes counted, official figures showed 61 percent of Greeks rejecting the bailout offer. "The 'no' vote is the worst possible outcome from an 'uncertainty' perspective," said Ray Attrill, global co-head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank. "'Grexit' risk has clearly risen sharply, and is now the singularly most likely scenario following the referendum. That said, other scenarios, under which a new deal is eventually agreed ... can still sum to a probability of close to 50 percent." France and Germany have called for yet another emergency summit of euro zone leaders to discuss the stunning referendum vote. The European Central Bank is likely to maintain emergency funding for Greek banks at its current restricted level, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday. "The ECB will likely keep this open until it gets clarity from political leaders. In any case, markets are in for a period of uncertainty and protracted negotiation," said Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Raiko Shareef. The 'No' vote triggered a rush to safety with the yen being the main beneficiary. The dollar fell as deep as 121.700 yen , from 122.775. It last stood at 122.360. The New Zealand and Australian dollars, often taken as a proxy for risk appetite, fell to multi-year lows. The Australian dollar skidded to a six-year trough of $0.7452 , while its New Zealand peer touched a five-year low of $0.6645. Both Antipodean currencies managed to claw back a bit of ground in choppy trade. The Aussie last stood at $0.7490, while the kiwi was at $0.6682. (Reporting by Ian Chua and Gyles Beckford; Editing by Richard Chang)