American focus: euro fell

The euro fell to a six-week low against the dollar after Germany received insufficient bids at a debt auction, adding to concern Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis is driving away investors from the region’s assets. Germany missed its 6 billion-euro ($8 billion) maximum sales target at a 10-year bond auction today by 35 percent, prompting investors to question the status of the securities as a haven from the region’s debt crisis. The bunds drew a yield of 1.98 percent.

A composite index based on a survey of purchasing managers in European manufacturing and services rose to 47.2 from 46.5 in October, Markit Economics said in an initial estimate today, suggesting the sovereign-debt crisis is starting to affect economic growth in the region’s core nations.

The dollar rose versus all of its 16 most-traded peers as a gauge of European services and manufacturing output shrank and data signaled China’s manufacturing will tumble. The HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI for China, Australia’s biggest trading partner, fell to 48 this month, predicting the biggest contraction since March 2009. That compares with a final reading of 51 in October.

The Dollar Index rose to its strongest level in almost seven weeks after Commerce Department data showed consumer spending in the U.S. rose 0.1 percent in October, less than forecast, indicating the biggest part of the economy may contribute less to the recovery. Orders for durable goods fell, another report showed, indicating manufacturing may also cool.

The gauge of the greenback, which is weighted 57.6 percent to movements in the euro, rose 1 percent to 79.004. It reached 79.027, the highest since Oct. 6. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. uses the index to track the greenback against the currencies of six major U.S. trade partners.

The pound declined 0.7 percent to $1.5522, after being as low as $1.5511, the least since Oct. 7. It fell for a third day after minutes of the central bank’s rate-setting meeting this month showed increased support for additional stimulus. Bank of England policy makers at the meeting unanimously kept the target for asset purchases at 275 billion pounds, after raising it by 75 billion pounds in October, the minutes showed.