Euro lower versus greenback, pound

The euro was weaker versus the US dollar and the pound on Tuesday, with declines coming on the $9.2 billion rescue of Belgian-French bank Dexia (Euronext, DEXB, DX; LuxSE: DXB) after its shares fell 28.5 percent Monday.

In late morning trade in New York, the dollar traded at $1.4057 to the euro while the shared currency declined versus the yen to ¥149.0332 but the yen dropped to ¥106.02 to the greenback.

While the bank rescue hurt the euro, the greenback was helped by reports that US consumer confidence was up in September and business activity slowed less than had been expected.

The pound, meanwhile, was stronger on statements out of the US from both Republican and Democratic senators, including from Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama, that a bailout plan will be passed.

The pound traded at 79.05p to the euro while it took $1.7784 to buy a pound at nearly noon in New York.

Hopes that a bailout of the US financial sector will be passed soon helped the South African rand versus the dollar, with the rand trading at R8.3215 to the greenback while the rand gained to R11.702 to the euro.

The Brazilian real was also helped by US bailout hopes, with the real trading at R$1.9260 to the US dollar after it dropped to more than R$2 to the dollar on Monday.

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