The euro advanced against the dollar and yen before Group of 20 finance ministers meet and policy makers discuss plans to tackle Europe’s debt woes. The shared currency headed for its first five-day advance in a month as nations from China to Brazil are considering increasing the International Monetary Fund’s lending resources, G-20 and IMF officials said. The euro earlier declined after Spain’s credit rating was cut by Standard & Poor’s. Singapore’s dollar rose after the nation’s central bank didn’t ease policy as much as some analysts had expected. The Australian and New Zealand currencies headed for weekly gains. “The market has been concerned about the fiscal position of European governments, so using the IMF to take emerging- market money and assist the euro zone would be a big boost to confidence,” said Grant Turley, a senior currency strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Sydney. “Any announcement on the issue would be a euro positive.” The shared currency gained 0.2 percent to $1.3806 as of 7:36 a.m. London time. It rose 0.3 percent to 106.27 yen. The U.S. dollar gained 0.1 percent to 76.98 yen. Singapore’s currency advanced 0.9 percent to S$1.2680 per U.S. dollar. Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega told reporters that strengthening the IMF is “the second most important issue we have to discuss” at a meeting with his G-20 counterparts in Paris this week. Policy makers are discussing an expansion of the IMF’s firepower as part of a global G-20 agreement next month in Cannes, France, according to three officials, who declined to be named because the discussions are not public. Talks are in preliminary stages as potential contributors wait to see what measures Europeans take to end the debt turmoil at an Oct. 23 summit, they said. Spain Downgrade Standard & Poor’s downgraded Spain to AA- from AA with a negative outlook. The nation’s rating has been lowered by S&P three times since 2009, when the country lost its AAA status. A jobless rate as high as 21 percent may weigh on private consumption, the company said. Singapore’s dollar rose after the Southeast Asian nation’s central bank said it will reduce the currency band’s slope to slow the pace of appreciation. Seven of 22 analysts in a Bloomberg News survey forecast an easing of monetary conditions. Singapore’s monetary authority uses the exchange rate rather than borrowing costs to conduct monetary policy, adjusting the pace of appreciation or depreciation against an undisclosed trade-weighted band of currencies by changing the slope, width and center of the band. To contact the reporters on this story: Candice Zachariahs in Sydney at czachariahs2@bloomberg.net; Kristine Aquino in Singapore at kaquino1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at rswift5@bloomberg.net

Source