Euro rises on Italian auction, ECB speculation

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Euro rises on Italian auction, ECB speculation

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The euro rose against the dollar Monday after a well-received Italian bond auction.

14 August,2012 07:30 am

Traders also bought the euro on speculation that the European Central Bank will soon take action to reduce borrowing costs for Spain and Italy.Italy said it easily raised $9.9 billion Monday, although the rates it had to pay investors rose slightly.Expectations have risen that the ECB will start buying Spanish and Italian government bonds soon. The central banks president, Mario Draghi, hinted earlier this month that the bank would start doing so.The euro rose to $1.2336 in late trading Monday from $1.2294 late Friday.The yen weakened against the dollar after Japan said that its economy grew at a slower rate than analysts were expecting in the April-through-June period. The dollar rose to 78.35 Japanese yen late Monday from 78.26 yen late Friday.In other trading Monday, the British pound rose to $1.5689 from $1.5673. The dollar fell to 0.9737 Swiss franc from 0.9766 Swiss franc.The dollar rose to 99.24 Canadian cents from 99.19 Canadian cents.