BLBG:Euro Weakens to Two-Week Low Versus Dollar on Renewed Debt-Crisis Concern
The euro tumbled to the lowest in almost two weeks against the dollar as concern Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis may worsen curbed demand for the currency.
The 17-nation shared currency declined against all but three of its 16 major peers, as Spanish and Italian borrowing costs rose before Spain auctions debt. Economic growth in Germany, the euro region’s largest economy, slowed in the second quarter as data showed household spending declined. The yen fell against all but one of its major peers as gains in Asian stocks sapped demand for safer assets. South Korea’s won was the best performing major currency against the dollar and euro.
“The euro-zone debt crisis is not going to disappear anytime soon, and it’s looking increasingly likely that a solution is going to be quite disorderly,” said Lee Hardman, a currency strategist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in London. “Ultimately the debt crisis will push the euro weaker against the dollar.”
The euro declined 0.5 percent to $1.4304, the lowest level since Aug. 19, at 9:05 a.m. in London. The yen depreciated 0.2 percent to 76.82 per dollar after reaching 77.24, the weakest since Aug. 26. It declined 0.2 percent to 110.41 per euro.
Germany’s economic growth slowed to 0.1 percent in the second quarter, from 1.3 percent in the first three months of the year, the nation’s Federal Statistics Office said today, confirming its initial Aug. 16 estimate.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kristine Aquino in Singapore at kaquino1@bloomberg.net; Garth Theunissen in London gtheunissen@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net