The euro fell from a three-week high against the dollar as Slovakian lawmakers prepared to vote on Europe’s retooled emergency bailout fund. The 17-nation currency gained the most in a year against its U.S. counterpart yesterday after Germany and France pledged to deliver a plan to support banks. The dollar rose against most of its major peers before the Federal Reserve releases minutes of its September meeting tomorrow. The pound weakened after a report showed U.K. manufacturing production contracted for a third month in August. “We are seeing a bit of correction in the euro after yesterday’s move up,” said Chris Walker, a currency strategist at UBS AG in London. “There are some concerns about the Slovakian vote, talks have essentially broken down. While the bottom line is that they will eventually approve it, it might be delayed and that creates more uncertainty.” The euro fell 0.3 percent to $1.3602 at 9:51 a.m. in London from $1.3642 yesterday when it rose to $1.3699, the strongest level since Sept. 21. The shared currency also dropped 0.3 percent to 104.30 yen from 104.59. The dollar was little changed at 76.70 yen. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.9 percent and futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.8 percent. Slovakia is the only country in the 17-nation euro region that hasn’t ratified the financial rescue measure, known as the European Financial Stability Facility, following approval in Malta’s parliament yesterday. Slovakian lawmakers aren’t expected to approve the measures at the first vote today, according to Gavin Friend, a markets strategist at National Australia Bank in London. Rebel Lawmakers The nation’s ruling party will pressure rebel lawmakers to approve the bailout fund by threatening to tie a parliamentary vote today on the facility with a no-confidence motion, two government officials said. “The euro is still a major point of concern for global markets,” said Greg Gibbs, a currency strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in Sydney. “We’ll still have to deal with a number of issues which are yet to be resolved. It’s hard to imagine that over the next month that all these will be resolved adequately.” Germany and France on Oct. 9 set an end-of-month deadline for a breakthrough in handling Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy put recapitalization of the region’s banks at the top of the priority list in a joint declaration in Berlin. Sarkozy said they would deliver a plan by the Group of 20 meeting on Nov. 3. To contact the reporters on this story: Emma Charlton in London at echarlton1@bloomberg.net; Candice Zachariahs in Sydney at czachariahs2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net

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