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Summary Rumors, including one that Standard & Poor will announce a downgrade of France pushed euro lower.
The euro dropped again against the US dollar a day before the European Central Bank and Bank of England hold meetings to discuss interest rates amid weak growth.Rumors, including one that Standard & Poors would announce a downgrade of France, also pushed the euro lower, while a mildly positive Federal Reserve report on US growth helped the dollar.At 2200 GMT the euro was at $1.2707, down from $1.2775 late Tuesday.The euro dropped to 97.70 yen from 98.15, while the dollar was slightly higher at 76.85 yen from 76.80This mornings weaker GDP report from Germany certainly did not help, said Kathy Lien of currency specialist GFT.Germanys economy grew by a robust 3.0 percent last year but the eurozone debt crisis threw Europes biggest economy into reverse in the final months, official data showed on Wednesday.Such weak growth numbers wont make life easy for the European Central Bank, which has a monetary policy meeting tomorrow, she said.Having just lowered interest rates in December to 1.0 percent, the central bank is not expected to ease again, particularly since last months rate cut came with a new program that makes it easier for cash-strapped banks to borrow.The dollar rose to 0.9540 Swiss francs from 0.9490 late Tuesday, while the British pound slipped to $1.5328, down from $1.5483.
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