American focus: euro and yen fell

The yen weakened against the dollar for a second day after Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi indicated that Group of Seven nations remain supportive of intervention to address extreme currency moves.

After reaching its weakest level against the dollar on March 15, the yen had strengthened as much as 7 percent. Japan’s Azumi said he told finance ministers a strong yen was depressing the nation’s stock market and damaging its economy by making exports more expensive.

The euro fell, ending two days of gains against the greenback, as Spanish Budget Minister Cristobal Montoro said the nation faces difficulties in accessing capital markets. Brazil’s real gained the most in a week as the central bank sold currency swap contracts.

The common currency weakened for the first time in three days against the yen after European retail sales fell more in April than economists forecast and German factory orders declined

Euro-region retail sales declined 1.0% in April, after gaining 0.3% the previous month, the European Union’s statistics office said in Luxembourg. Economists forecast a drop of 0.1%.  German factory orders fell 1.9% from March, the Economy Ministry said in Berlin.