American focus: euro strengthened

The euro strengthened for the first time in a week against the dollar and yen amid speculation European Central Bank buying of Italian and Spanish bonds will stem surging borrowing costs in the region.

Europe’s shared currency rose from yesterday’s five-week low versus the yen amid reports the ECB may start talks to lend to the International Monetary Fund for sovereign bailouts. Italian bonds rose. ECB President Mario Draghi today slammed governments for failing to implement policy commitments as holders of Greek debt began talks in Athens on structuring a 50 percent writeoff that was the cornerstone of a deal reached last month. The accord, which finance ministers aim to implement next month, was at least the fourth plan billed as a comprehensive strategy to end the crisis born in Greece in 2009, none of which provided a lasting fix.

The dollar declined against the majority of its 16 most- traded counterparts today after the index of U.S. leading indicators climbed more than forecast in October, encouraging risk appetite. Reports yesterday signaled improvement in the weakest areas of the U.S. economy, with claims for unemployment benefits dropping to the lowest level in seven months and housing starts exceeding forecasts.The Dollar Index, which IntercontinentalExchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners, fell 0.3 percent to 78.032.

The Canadian dollar appreciated 0.3 percent to C$1.0258 to the greenback after Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa that consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in October, matching the previous month’s increase.