Euro falls on ECB president comments

The euro fell against the dollar Monday after the president of the European Central Bank gave cautious statements about the Europes growing debt crisis. News that North Korea ruler Kim Jong Il had died initially pushed the yen lower against the dollar, but it has since recovered.European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said that the central bank was preparing the eurozones bailout fund for a possible downgrade of Frances AAA-credit rating. Draghi said that if Frances rating is downgraded, other countries could receive downgrades too. He also said in an interview with the Financial Times that large-scale government bond purchases were outside the central banks responsibility.Earlier in the month, rating agency Standard & Poors put 15 of the 17 countries that use the euro on watch for a downgrade. On Friday, ratings agency Fitch warned that it could downgrade Italy, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Slovenia and Cyprus. Downgrades could complicateEuropes work to solve the debt crisis because it will cost more for the countries to borrow money.The euro fell to $1.3009 in afternoon trading Monday from 1.3024 late Friday. Fears that European leaders arent doing enough to end the regions debt crisis pushed the euro to an 11-month low of $1.2943 Wednesday, but it has hovered above $1.30 since then.The dollar rose to 77.92 Japanese yen in midday trading. Earlier it jumped to a nearly three-week high of 78.165 yen on news that North Koreas ruler died. The dollar was worth 77.87 yen late Friday.Traders are concerned that the transition of power in North Korea might not go smoothly. Fears of political unrest in the region also pushed the South Korean won lower against the dollar Monday.In other trading, the British pound rose to $1.5519 from $1.5499 late Friday. The dollar fell to 0.9365 Swiss franc from 0.9372 Swiss franc and to 1.0356 Canadian dollar from 1.0384 Canadian dollar.