Offers of Cobalt Metal in European Market (2010-1-15)

NEWYORK, Jan. 18 -- The euro declined to a one-week low against the dollar on speculation Greece's struggle to contain its budget deficit will deter investors from buying the region's assets.
The European currency fell to a four-week low versus the yen before finance ministers from the 16 nations that use the euro meet today to discuss Greece's public finances. The Australian and New Zealand dollars declined for a second day as Asian stocks retreated after JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co., the second- biggest U.S. financial company, last week reported a loss at its retail banking unit.
&quot;Greece's debt woes are keeping a lid on prospects of sovereign solvency in Europe,&quot; said Minoru Shioiri, chief manager of foreign-exchange trading in Tokyo at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co., a unit of Japan's largest publicly traded bank by market value. &quot;Investor confidence in the euro is weakening.&quot;
The euro slid to $1.4342 as of 10:02 a.m. in Tokyo from $1.4387 in New York last week. It earlier dropped to $1.4335, the lowest level since Jan. 8. The currency fell to 130.26 yen from 130.61 yen after touching 130.16 yen, the weakest since Dec. 22. The dollar was at 90.82 yen from 90.77 yen. New Zealand&rsquo;s dollar slipped to 73.34 U.S. cents from 73.78.
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