The euro weakened on concern a split among the region’s central bankers will hamper efforts to revive the economy. European and Asian stocks gained, while U.S. index futures declined. The 16-nation currency fell 1.2 percent against the yen and 0.5 percent versus the dollar. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index rose 0.5 percent, led by Barclays Plc, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.2 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 0.6 percent before earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Google Inc. European Central Bank council member Axel Weber said yesterday the bank shouldn’t reduce its benchmark interest rate below 1 percent, from 1.25 percent now, putting him at odds with policy makers such as George Provopoulos from Greece who say borrowing costs must fall to near zero. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development forecast March 31 that Europe’s economy will shrink 4.1 percent this year, compared with 4 percent in the U.S. “These fissures are highly damaging to sentiment,” UBS AG currency strategists including London-based Gareth Berry wrote in a report today. “It appears that the key members of the Governing Council remain disconnected with market perception and this is already affecting the euro’s performance.” The euro dropped to 129.84 yen as of 11 a.m. in London, from 131.44 yen in New York yesterday. The currency weakened to $1.3152, from $1.3227. No ‘One-Off’ Barclays climbed for a fifth day, adding 4.8 percent to 206.25 pence. The London-based bank’s President Robert Diamond said better-than-estimated earnings this month from New York- based Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. in San Francisco aren’t a “one-off” phenomenon. “You have to look at which banks have improved their competitive position in this period,” Diamond said in an interview yesterday on Bloomberg Television. Stocks pared their gains in Europe after Dassault Systemes SA, whose design software is used by Toyota Motor Corp., declined 4 percent to 28.69 euros. Dassault plans to cut its full-year revenue forecast after first-quarter sales fell short of its targets, Chief Financial Officer Thibault de Tersant said on a conference call. Geneva-based STMicroelectronics NV retreated 1.1 percent to 4.56 euros. Europe’s largest chipmaker said it plans to cut quarterly dividends 67 percent to 3 cents a share, citing the need to “maintain a solid financial foundation.” Nokia Profit Slump Espoo, Finland-based Nokia Oyj, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, posted a larger-than-forecast decline in first-quarter profit to 122 million euros ($160 million). New York-based JPMorgan will report earnings before the open of regular U.S. trading. Mountain View, California-based Google will announce results after the close. Analysts estimate that profits at S&P 500 companies decreased for the seventh straight quarter in the January to March period, the longest stretch of declines since at least the Great Depression. China’s economy grew 6.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace in almost 10 years, a government report showed today. Separate reports showed that growth in industrial production and investment accelerated, adding to evidence that Premier Wen Jiabao’s 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus plan is working. Emerging-Market Stocks The MSCI index of 23 developing economies’ stocks rose 0.2 percent to 644.71, extending this year’s rally to 13 percent. JPMorgan strategist Adrian Mowat forecast the gauge will jump to 900 this year. That would be the highest closing level since Sept. 8, a week before New York-based Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s bankruptcy froze global credit markets and sparked an exodus from emerging markets. Crude oil for May delivery rose 44 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $49.69 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Soybeans climbed to a three-month high on the Chicago Board of Trade on speculation for a smaller harvest in Argentina. The cost of protecting corporate bonds sold by European companies from default fell in the credit-default swaps market, reflecting an improvement in perceptions of credit quality. Contracts on the Markit iTraxx Crossover Index of 45 companies with mostly high-risk, high-yield credit ratings fell 5 basis points to 848, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. prices at 9:26 a.m. in London. The Markit iTraxx Financial index of 25 European banks and insurers declined 5 basis points to 147 and the subordinated index dropped 9 to 243. Credit-default swaps traders are holding an auction to determine a settlement price for contracts on LyondellBasell Industries AF SCA today, after the chemicals maker triggered the swaps by missing an interest payment on 500 million euros of bonds maturing in 2015.

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