Euro Declines on Expectations German Investor Confidence Fell

The euro weakened against the dollar for the first day in three in Asia on expectations a report today will show investor confidence in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, fell to a 10-month low in May. The 12-nation European currency also declined against the yen after a report showed Japan's economy grew faster than expected in the first three months of the year, the eighth quarter of growth. Germany's economy is showing no signs of a ``self-sustaining'' recovery, the Bundesbank said yesterday. The confidence report ``will be a potent reminder Europe's economy lags far behind that of the U.S.,'' said Kenichiro Ikezawa, who manages $1 billion of overseas bonds at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo. ``The euro-block countries face a lot of homework, namely structural reforms, to get the economy going.'' Ikezawa said he may consider buying more dollar- denominated debt. Against the dollar, the euro fell to $1.1974 at 11:08 a.m. in Tokyo, from $1.2027, according to EBS, an electronic foreign- exchange dealing system. It also fell to 137.25 yen, from 137.48. The Mannheim-based ZEW Center for European Economic Research may say its index of institutional investor and analyst sentiment fell to 49.0 from 49.7 in April, the fifth monthly decline, according to the median forecast of 36 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. ZEW will publish its report at 11 a.m. local time.