Dollar, Yen Fall Against Euro as Stocks Rise, Before House Data

By Bo Nielsen

Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar and the yen fell against the euro as stock markets in Europe climbed and before a report that may show U.S. housing starts in October surged to the highest in almost a year.

The U.S. currency also declined against the Australian and New Zealand dollars. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index climbed 0.3 percent and oil rose for a third day. The pound fell against the euro and the dollar after minutes of this month’s Bank of England policy-maker meeting showed the committee split three ways in a vote to extend its bond-buying program.

“It’s a relatively good day for oil and stocks are up,” said John Hydeskov, a senior analyst in Copenhagen at Danske Bank A/S, Denmark’s biggest lender. “When equities are up, the euro-dollar tends to tick upwards. That’s a favorable environment.”

The dollar fell 0.4 percent to $1.4936 per euro, 0.2 percent to 93.28 U.S. cents per Australian dollar and 0.4 percent to 74.8 U.S. cents per New Zealand dollar as of 9:32 a.m. in London. The yen also slid 0.4 percent, to 133.12 per euro. The pound dropped 0.2 percent to $1.6782 and 0.6 percent to 89.02 pence per euro.

A U.S. report today will show housing starts rose 1.7 percent in October from September to an 11-month high, according to a Bloomberg survey.

To contact the reporters on this story: Bo Nielsen in Copenhagen at bnielsen4@bloomberg.net