American focus: dollar declined, euro gained

The dollar fell the most more than a month against the euro as signs manufacturing is expanding in the U.S. and China damped the appeal of safer assets. The greenback weakened versus all of its most-traded peers after a U.S. factory gauge rose at the fastest in six months. Data earlier this week showed gains in factory indexes for China and India. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index rose to 53.9 in December from 52.7 a month earlier, the Tempe, Arizona- based group’s data showed today. China’s purchasing managers’ index for manufacturing increased to 50.3 last month from 49 in November, the logistics federation said Jan. 1. India’s PMI for manufacturing rose to the highest in six months, HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics said yesterday.

The Dollar Index, which IntercontinentalExchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners, dropped 0.8 percent to 79.625.

The euro advanced from an 11-year low versus the yen after German unemployment fell more than forecast. The euro extended gains after the Nuremberg-based Federal Labor Agency said German unemployment fell in December more than economists forecast. The number of people out of work slid a seasonally adjusted 22,000 to 2.89 million, the agency said.

Australia’s and New Zealand’s dollars rose to the strongest since November.