American focus: euro fell to its weakest level against the dollar since July 2010

The euro fell to its weakest level against the dollar since July 2010 on speculation a summit of European Union leaders will provide no new measures to stem the sovereign-debt crisis. The shared currency extended losses after dropping below 100 yen for the first time since February and weakening to less than $1.26, price levels where traders who follow technical analysis said sell orders were clustered. Financial turmoil in the euro bloc will come up at tonight’s meeting in Brussels only “at the very end,” European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said in a letter before a gathering of EU officials.

The yen climbed at least 0.7 percent versus all its major peers after the Bank of Japan left its asset-purchase fund unchanged. The yen snapped a two-day drop against the dollar after slipping earlier this week on bets the central bank would decide to boost stimulus at its policy meeting. The BOJ kept its asset-purchase fund at 40 trillion yen today, after expanding it by 10 trillion yen last month. The central bank also left a credit-lending program at 30 trillion yen, it said in a statement in Tokyo today. The policy board kept the key overnight lending rate between zero and 0.1 percent.