Investing.com - The euro slid to one week lows against the dollar on Wednesday amid speculation that the European Central Bank is looking at widening its stimulus program, while reports that 11 euro zone banks are set to fail stress tests also weighed.
EUR/USD was down 0.15% to 1.2697, close to session lows of 1.2681.
The single currency remained under pressure after Reuters reported Tuesday that the ECB is looking at expanding its asset purchasing stimulus program to include corporate bonds in a bid to help shore up the ailing euro zone economy.
According to the report, the bank could activate the new stimulus plan as soon as December and start bond purchases by early next year.
An ECB spokesman said no decision had been taken but the report was seen as an indication that the bank is moving closer to quantitative easing.
Reports by Spanish news agency Efe that at least 11 European banks are set to fail ECB stress tests this weekend also hit demand for the euro.
The ECB was to announce the results of stress tests on 130 banks on Sunday.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned ahead of U.S. inflation data for September due out later in the day, amid heightened expectations that the Federal Reserve is growing closer to raising interest rates.
The euro was also lower against the yen, with EUR/JPY sliding 0.21% to 135.75.
Elsewhere, the euro rose to session highs against sterling, with EUR/GBP up 0.29% to 0.7914 from around 0.7900 earlier.
Sterling slid after the minutes of the Bank of England’s October meeting showed that most members of the monetary policy committee were against a rate hike, believing it could leave the U.K. vulnerable to shocks in the global economy.