Euro down against dollar ahead of German survey

FRANKFURT

The euro was slightly lower against the dollar on Tuesday as markets awaited a German investor confidence survey and more third-quarter earnings reports.

The 16-nation euro bought $1.4768 in morning European trading, down from $1.4776 late Monday in New York.

The British pound was down to $1.5749 from $1.5786, while the dollar rose to 90.11 Japanese yen from 89.84 yen.

In Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy, the ZEW institute's monthly investor confidence survey was due later Tuesday. The survey, which measures investors' outlook for the next six months, hit a three-year high last month.

Investors also are looking to third-quarter earnings in the U.S., where chipmaker Intel and consumer products company Johnson & Johnson were due to report Tuesday, for pointers on the state of the economy.

On Monday, Dutch-based Royal Philips Electronics NV reported an unexpected surge in third-quarter profits and improvements in earnings and sales.

Good economic news has tended to weigh on the dollar recently, prompting investors to leave the traditional safe haven of the U.S. currency for riskier assets.

The euro versus the dollar "is consolidating around $1.4800 and the next big level will be a move up toward the psychological $1.5000 mark," currency analyst David Jones at IG Index wrote in a research note.

From: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9BA2NP00.htm