The euro dropped below 100 yen for the first time since June 2001 in a sixth straight day of decline on concern Europe’s debt crisis will weigh on the region’s economic growth.
The 17-nation currency headed for its first back-to-back annual decreases versus the dollar in a decade. The Australian and New Zealand dollars rose as stocks rallied before reports next week forecast to show the U.S. economy is recovering, increasing demand for higher-yielding assets. China’s yuan climbed to a 17-year high on signs the central bank favors the currency’s appreciation to prevent capital outflows.
“There’s fatigue in the sense that the euro-zone problems -- we thought they’d be fixed partially by now, but obviously they’re not,” said Brian Kim, a currency strategist in Stamford, Connecticut, at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. “There’s a modest appetite for risk and there could be a little bit more of a bounce in the year-end.”
The euro fell 0.5 percent to 100.17 yen at 8:53 a.m. in New York after dropping to 99.97 yen, the lowest level since December 2000. The euro was little changed at $1.2954. The yen gained 0.4 percent to 77.33 per dollar after reaching 77.30, the strongest since Dec. 8.
Euro Numbers
The shared European currency is the worst performer among 10 developed-nation currencies this year, declining 2 percent, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Currency Indexes. The dollar has advanced 1.3 percent and the yen has gained 5.1 percent.
South Africa’s rand has declined 18.2 percent against the dollar in 2011, the most of the U.S. currency’s major peers, according to Bloomberg data, followed by Mexico’s peso, with a 11.6 percent loss. The yen has advanced 4.9 percent for the largest gain against the greenback.
Europe’s shared currency may weaken to 99 yen in the first quarter of 2012, according to the median forecasts of 35 analysts in a Bloomberg News survey. The shared currency will weaken to $1.28 in the second quarter of next year, according to a separate survey of 41 analysts.
Two years of summits have failed to contain a European debt crisis that has led to bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal and now threatens Italy and Spain.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy will go to Berlin on Jan. 9 to resume talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to end the turmoil, according to an official familiar with the matter. The leaders aim to complete revisions to Europe’s fiscal rulebook by March, following decisions made at a Dec. 9 summit, and are reassessing plans to cap the overall lending of their permanent rescue facility at 500 billion euros.
Crisis Backdrop
“The backdrop is still the euro-zone debt crisis and concerns about growth,” said Peter Rosenstreich, chief currency analyst at Swissquote Bank SA in Geneva. “The dark clouds are getting darker. We’re seeing a death by a thousand cuts.”
A gauge of euro-region manufacturing was 46.9 in December from 46.4 the previous month, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before Markit Economics releases the data Jan. 2. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.
The Australian dollar appreciated 0.4 percent to $1.0177 and the New Zealand currency advanced 0.3 percent to 77.38 U.S. cents as U.S. economic prospects encouraged risk.
The MSCI World Index (MXWO) of shares climbed 0.4 percent, and the futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.1 percent.
Economic Data
The Institute for Supply Management’s U.S. factory index (NAPMPMI) rose to 53.2 in December from 52.7 in the previous month, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey before a Jan. 3 report. Readings above 50 indicate expansion. U.S. growth will quicken to 2.1 percent in 2012 from 1.8 percent this year, according to a separate Bloomberg News survey.
Riskier assets will rise “if we can confirm that the U.S. economy is on a recovery path from the economic data next week,” said Marito Ueda, senior managing director in Tokyo at FX Prime Corp., a currency margin company.
The yuan advanced for a third day as the central bank set its reference rate (CNYMUSD) 0.2 percent stronger at 6.3009 against the greenback, the highest level since a dollar peg ended in 2005.
Hong Lei, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, said on Dec. 28 that China will continue to push for exchange-rate flexibility. Chinese manufacturing shrank less this month than in November, data showed today.
“The fixing may break through the key 6.3 level on the first trading day after the holiday,” following the spot rate, said Liu Dongliang, a senior analyst in Shenzhen at China Merchants Bank Co. “The yuan may appreciate about 3 percent at most next year.”
The yuan gained as much as 0.4 percent to 6.2940 per dollar, the strongest since the country unified official and market exchange rates at the end of 1993.
To contact the reporters on this story: Catarina Saraiva in New York at asaraiva5@bloomberg.net; Keith Jenkins in London at kjenkins3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Robert Burgess at bburgess@bloomberg.net
