The euro dropped the most in 11 weeks against the yen as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said policy makers would broaden asset purchases should the inflation outlook for the region diminish. Among 16 major peers, only Switzerland’s franc fell versus the euro, dropping amid speculation the nation’s central bank is intervening to defend its 1.20-per-euro cap. The yen strengthened, paring the sharpest five-week decline against the dollar since 1995, after Japan’s Finance Minister Taro Aso said the currency had depreciated too rapidly. Australia and New Zealand’s dollars climbed after China cut interest rates for the first time since 2012. “The euro will go progressively lower,� said Jane Foley, senior foreign-exchange strategist at Rabobank International in London. “Draghi is continuing to apply this level of urgency about needing to boost inflation and the implication of that, once again, may be that he is a proponent of potentially using full-blown quantitative easing.� The euro weakened 1.1 percent to 146.58 yen at 6:54 a.m. New York time, the steepest decline since Sept. 4. The shared currency dropped 1 percent to $1.2419. The yen advanced 0.1 percent to 118.06 per dollar, halting a six-day drop. Rabobank’s Foley predicted the euro will weaken to $1.20 by the end of 2015, with the risk that the common currency could depreciate further, she said. Officials “will do what we must to raise inflation and inflation expectations as fast as possible,� Draghi said at the European Banking Congress in Frankfurt today. Unusual Activity The Swiss franc depreciated 0.05 percent to 1.20239 per euro. It earlier touched 1.20329, the weakest level since Nov. 12, which was “certainly not a market-driven move,� according to Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a currency strategist at Swissquote Bank SA in Gland. “The SNB is most probably intervening in the FX markets,� she wrote in an e-mailed comment. “Unusual activity� became apparent after Draghi’s speech this morning, she wrote. The yen advanced today even as it heads for a weekly drop against all except one of its 31 major counterparts this week. “Over the past week the yen-dollar rate has weakened too fast -- that’s clear,� Aso said today in Tokyo. “It’s up to the market to set the currency rate and it’s not something where we intervene. Sudden currency changes aren’t welcome, whether it’s up or down.� Japan Election Japan is set to hold a lower house election next month as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks a fresh mandate for economic stimulus. Japan’s markets will be closed Nov. 24 for a holiday. “I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear comments like those made by Aso earlier,� said Kengo Suzuki, chief currency strategist at Mizuho Securities Co. in Tokyo. “They would act as a floor for the yen. We could see a correction in dollar-yen down to around 115.� Australia’s currency climbed 1 percent to 87.02 U.S. cents and New Zealand’s dollar rose 0.7 percent to 79.24 U.S. cents. The People’s Bank of China lowered its one-year deposit rate by 0.25 percentage point to 2.75 percent, while the one-year lending rate was reduced by 0.4 percentage point to 5.6 percent, effective tomorrow. China is both South Pacific nations’ biggest trading partner. To contact the reporter on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net Keith Jenkins, Mark McCord

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