The euro fell to the lowest level in more than a week against the yen as Spanish and Italian borrowing costs rose amid concern a European Union summit this week will fail to solve the sovereign-debt crisis. The 17-nation currency slid against the dollar, reaching its lowest point in more than two weeks. The greenback weakened against Japan’s currency, which strengthened versus all of its most-traded peers, after a report showed that U.S. consumer confidence declined for a fourth month in June, reaching a five-month low. Australia’s dollar strengthened as traders pared bets on an interest-rate cut. The euro declined 0.6 percent to 98.98 yen at 11:12 a.m. New York time after touching 98.75 yen, the lowest level since June 18. It fell 1.5 percent yesterday, the biggest drop since May 30. The shared currency depreciated 0.4 percent to $1.2462 after touching $1.2442, the weakest level since June 8. The dollar weakened 0.3 percent to 79.45 yen. The euro may be supported by its June 1 low of $1.2288, according to technical indicators. Europe’s common currency is down from this year’s high of $1.3487 on Feb. 24, and has fallen 3.7 percent against the dollar this year as the financial turmoil in the region deepened. The yen has declined 3.2 percent.
Source: Bloomberg
