US focus: Euro falls as Irish note yields add

The euro fell for the first time in three days against the dollar as investors speculated Europe’s leaders will struggle to find a permanent mechanism to the regions debt crisis.

EU finance chiefs settled yesterday on a permanent rescue fund to lend 500 billion euros ($712 billion) as of 2013, while remaining divided over how to get the current stopgap fund to its full capacity. Work thrashing out a solution to the region’s credit woes is due to culminate at a March 24-25 summit of European leaders.
The euro earlier touched a five-month high against the greenback after European Central Bank Executive Board member Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell and Governing Council member Yves Mersch both said yesterday that “strong vigilance” is necessary to keep a lid on inflation.
New Zealand’s dollar was the best performer against the dollar. The International Monetary Fund said the nation’s central bank may need to raise rates “relatively quickly” once the economy begins to recover.
The pound rose, as inflation data bolstered the case for the Bank of England to increase rates.
Consumer prices rose 4.4% in February from a year earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics, higher than the 4.2% median forecast of economists.