i Develop Stocks Advisory

Dollar Falls to Record Low of $1.50 per Euro on Rate Outlook The dollar fell to a record low of $1.50 per euro on speculation Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke today will indicate the U.S. central bank is prepared to keep lowering interest rates. The currency is headed for its second straight monthly decline on expectations a U.S. government report today will show a drop in new home sales, bolstering the Fed's case for cutting its 3 percent target for the overnight lending rate between banks. The euro climbed to a six-week high against the yen as traders bet the European Central Bank will keep its 4 percent benchmark rate unchanged in coming months. ``We're going into a new leg of dollar weakness,'' Tony Morriss, a currency strategist in Sydney at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Australia's third-biggest bank, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. ``The Federal Reserve is sending a pretty clear signal they need to support growth.'' The U.S. currency touched $1.5047 per euro, the lowest since the European single currency was introduced in 1999, before trading at $1.4991 as of 10:46 a.m. in Tokyo from $1.4974 in late New York yesterday. It was little changed at 107.22 yen. The euro rose to 160.73 yen from 160.67. The dollar may fall to $1.53 per euro in the next three months, Morriss said. The U.S. dollar slid against 11 of the 16 most-active currencies before Bernanke delivers his semi-annual testimony to the House Financial Services Committee at 10 a.m. in Washington today. Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn said yesterday turmoil in credit markets and the possibility of slower economic growth pose a ``greater threat'' than inflation.