The dollar weakened to a record low versus the Swiss franc and the cost of insuring against a U.S. default climbed to a 17-month high after President Barack Obama dueled with House Speaker John Boehner over the debt ceiling. European stocks and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures fell. The dollar depreciated against all but one of 16 major peers monitored by Bloomberg at 10:15 a.m. in London, slipping to less than 80 centimes versus the franc. Credit-defaults swaps on U.S. debt increased one basis point to 57 basis points. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed two basis points, while the Portuguese yield jumped 19 basis points. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 0.8 percent and S&P 500 futures slipped 0.1 percent. Copper jumped 1.3 percent. Obama said yesterday the U.S. may experience a “deep economic crisis” if leaders fail to reach a compromise and the nation defaults, while Boehner said the president “wants a blank check” to keep spending. The U.K. economy grew 0.2 percent from the first quarter, when it increased 0.5 percent, the Office for National Statistics said today, before U.S. data that may show consumer confidence and house prices fell. “The theme of the day is once again sell the dollar,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at Forex.com, a unit of Gain Capital Holdings Inc., an online currency-trading company. “Playing this argument out in public, rather than trying to iron out differences behind closed doors, is causing shock waves in the markets. Every public spat is a step back from reaching an agreement by the Aug. 2 deadline.” U.S. Debt Sale The Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against those of six trading partners, declined 0.6 percent, falling for the fifth time in the past six days. Ten-year yields approached the highest since July 11, while traders in inflation-protected securities increased bets that price growth will quicken. The government plans to sell $35 billion of two-year notes in the first of three auctions this week totaling $99 billion. Obama delivered his message yesterday in a prime-time television address from the White House, while Boehner spoke afterward from the U.S. Capitol. Earlier in the day, Boehner, an Ohio Republican, and the Democratic leader in the Senate, Harry Reid of Nevada, unveiled competing plans to raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit. The gain in S&P 500 futures indicated the U.S. stocks gauge will climb for the third time in four days. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index, due for release at 10 a.m. in New York, may fall to 56 in July from 58.5 the prior month, according to the median projection of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Other data may show purchases of new homes stagnated in June, while house prices declined in May from a year earlier. Baidu, Broadcom Baidu Inc. jumped 7.3 percent in early New York trading as China’s biggest Internet company by market value forecast revenue that beat analyst estimates. Broadcom Corp., the supplier of communications chips for Apple Inc.’s mobile devices, surged 8.1 percent in Germany after also forecasting sales that topped estimates. Netflix Inc., the mail-order and online film-rental service, tumbled 10 percent after its forecasts missed projections. Lockheed Martin Corp., Ford Motor Co. and United Parcel Service Inc. are among companies scheduled to release results today in the U.S. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed 0.7 percent, led by a rally in technology companies after Baidu reported earnings. India’s Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index dropped 1.5 percent, the most in two weeks, as the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate more than economists estimated. The Turkish lira weakened 0.4 percent, extending the world’s biggest decline in July, after banks including Societe Generale SA and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc who predicted this month’s retreat said the currency will probably fall more. Pound, Euro The pound strengthened 0.7 percent to $1.6384 after the report from the Office for National Statistics. The euro appreciated as much as 1 percent to $1.4522, the strongest level since July 5, after European Central Bank Governing Council member Christian Noyer said policy makers remain in a mode of “strong vigilance” after this month’s interest-rate increase, Financial Times Deutschland reported, citing an interview. The New Zealand dollar climbed 1 percent to a record versus the greenback as investors sought alternatives to the U.S. currency. China’s yuan advanced as much as 0.1 percent against the dollar to its strongest level in 17 years after the central bank placed the currency’s reference rate at a record high. Copper for three-month delivery rose to $9,784.75 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, the first gain in five days, as a strike at BHP Billiton Ltd.’s Escondida copper mine in Chile, the world’s biggest, entered a fifth day. All six main industrial metals traded on the LME advanced, paced by zinc, up 1.8 percent to $2,515.25 a ton. Corn for December delivery rose 0.7 percent to $6.795 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade and soybean futures climbed 0.7 percent as dry weather in the Midwest worsened crop conditions in the U.S. Wheat futures gained 0.8 percent. Gold for immediate delivery fell 0.1 percent to $1,612.20 an ounce following yesterday’s rally to a record $1,624.07. To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stuart Wallace at Swallace6@bloomberg.net

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