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FOREX-Euro down on Russia debt, eyes on U.S. bank plan

Published 02/10/2009, 04:18 AM
Updated 02/10/2009, 04:24 AM
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* Euro down but trims losses as Russia denies debt deal

* Euro down 0.8 percent at $1.2903

* ECB's Weber says deep rate cuts appropriate in crisis

* Focus on U.S. bank bailout plan

(Recasts, changes dateline, pvs TOKYO)

By Tamawa Desai

LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The euro fell against the dollar and yen on Tuesday but trimmed some losses after Russia denied a media report that Russian banks will ask Moscow to help them restructure corporate debt owed to foreign creditors.

But investors were wary of taking large positions ahead of an eagerly awaited U.S. plan to shore up its banks. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is expected to unveil the outline of the plan later on Tuesday.

Earlier, the euro slipped more than one percent on the day after Japan's Nikkei business daily quoted Anatoly Aksakov, president of the Russian Association of Regional Banks, as saying the industry group had submitted a proposal to the Russian government to postpone loan repayments of up to $400 billion in corporate debt owed to European and other foreign banks.

But Russia quickly denied the report.

"The government of the Russian Federation does not plan to consider the issue of restructuring the corporate debt of Russian banks and companies," Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told Reuters. Aksakov told Reuters the Nikkei report was untrue.

"The Nikkei report soured sentiment toward the euro, though we saw a partial retracement as the report was downplayed by Russian authorities," said Lee Hardman, currency economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

"But more broad concerns about Russia and emerging European countries will continue to weigh heavily on the euro because of European banks' exposure to those regions," he added.

By 0843 GMT, the euro was down 0.8 percent at $1.2903, after falling to $1.2811, according to Reuters data.

Against the yen, the euro was down 0.6 percent to 118.27 yen after hitting a low of 116.72 yen.

The euro was also pressured after European Central Bank Governing Council member Axel Weber said on Tuesday that concerns about long-term effects of loose monetary policies should not stop central bankers from cutting interest rates aggressively in the current severe downturn.

"We should not at this point avoid to lower rates aggressively, because we understand at the current juncture all indicators look like the economy is in free-fall," Weber told a conference in Malaysia.

Markets will be looking to the U.S. financial stabilisation and economic stimulus packages aimed at tackling the recession in the world's biggest economy.

Three sources told Reuters the Obama administration's bank rescue package included a public-private partnership that could buy up to $500 billion worth of distressed assets, with private investors able to buy bad assets through low-cost funding from the Fed or using Federal Deposit Insurance Corp guarantees.

They also said the bailout plan does not include a stand-alone, government "bad bank" to buy distressed assets.

The dollar dipped 0.1 percent against the yen to 91.37 yen.

The U.S. stimulus bill -- a mix of tax cuts and public spending measures -- passed a key procedural hurdle in the U.S. Senate on Monday, paving the way for the chamber to pass the bill on Tuesday

But further congressional wrangling over the stimulus package and uncertainties about the bank plan will likely keep a bid for perceived safer currencies such as the dollar and yen, analysts said.

"Investor focus will likely remain on global growth conditions as the banking bailout will likely not provide the quick fix that some are expecting and market expectations remain firmly to the downside," said analysts at UBS in a report.

"Under such circumstances the greenback will remain in demand, in particular versus the euro." (Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo; editing by Stephen Nisbet)

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