American focus: dollar gains across the board

The euro fell the most in two weeks against the dollar as concern the region’s leaders won’t agree on a solution to its debt crisis damped appetite for its assets.
The 17-nation currency retreated from almost the strongest level in nine months against the yen. Financing costs rose as Greece sold 1.625 billion euros ($2.3 billion) of treasury bills a day after having its credit rating cut by Moody’s Investors Service.
“It’s a combination of overextended speculative positioning and renewed sovereign-debt jitters,” said Vassili Serebriakov, a currency strategist at Wells Fargo & Co. in New York. “The post-ECB rally has gone too far too fast and the euro is coming back to the reality of still very uncertain prospects for the peripheral economies.”
The euro, which has risen 3.9 percent against the dollar this year, has struggled to extend its advance beyond $1.40 as European Union leaders clashed about how to deal with the sovereign-debt crisis that forced Ireland and Greece to seek financial aid last year. The 27-nation EU intends to approve a “comprehensive” package of measures at a March 24-25 summit in a bid to calm bond markets.
Austria opposes easing conditions of bailouts sought by Ireland and Greece, Chancellor Werner Faymann told reporters today in Vienna.