American focus: the euro volatility traded against of the situation with Greece

The euro touched two-month lows against the dollar and Swiss franc as European finance ministers struggled to agree on how to provide additional aid for Greece.

The 17-nation currency erased losses against the greenback climbed as U.S. stocks rose amid an increase in risk appetite. The dollar and yen gained versus most major peers after euro-area policy makers gave Greece two extra years to lower its budget deficit.

Euro-area finance ministers will reconvene in an “extraordinary meeting” next week to discuss Greece’s financing needs, according to a statement read out by Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker at the conclusion of a gathering in Brussels late yesterday. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said after the meeting that Greece’s creditors had “different views.”

The finance ministers put off until Nov. 20 a decision on how to cover additional Greek needs of as much as 32.6 billion euros ($41 billion). Lagarde disagreed with a decision by the officials to postpone the goal of getting Greece’s debt down to 120 percent of GDP by two years, until 2022.

A gauge of German investor sentiment unexpectedly fell. The ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said its index of investor confidence, which is designed to predict economic developments six months in advance, dropped to minus 15.7, from minus 11.5 in October. Economists forecast an increase to minus 10.

The pound advanced versus most major peers after a report showed U.K. inflation accelerated more than economists forecast in October. U.K. consumer prices rose 2.7 percent from a year earlier, compared with 2.2 percent in September, the Office for National Statistics said in London today. Inflation was forecast to quicken to 2.4 percent.