Thursday, March 27, 2008

Euro falls on speculation credit losses will spread to Europe

The euro fell for the first time in three days against the dollar on speculation losses at the region's biggest banks will spread amid the credit crisis.

The euro fell versus 13 of the 16 most-traded currencies after Oppenheimer & Co. said UBS AG, Europe's largest bank by assets, will probably report a loss this quarter. European Central Bank policy maker Guy Quaden said in an interview there are ``shockwaves'' from the U.S. credit squeeze, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

``A topping-out process for euro-dollar is taking place,'' said Ian Stannard, a currency strategist in London at BNP Paribas SA, France's biggest bank. ``The move higher for the euro is quite fragile. As equity markets start to pull back, that could undermine support for the euro.''

The euro fell to $1.5817 at 7:21 a.m. in New York, from $1.5845 late yesterday, when it rose 1.3 percent. It was little changed against the yen, at 157.06 yen, after trading as low as 155.89 earlier, its largest loss since March 20. The dollar was at 99.30 yen, from 99.20, and rose to 0.9920 Swiss franc, from 0.9888 yesterday.

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