Juncker remarks, Fed report push euro lower

The euro fell against the dollar Wednesday after a senior eurozone official suggested the euro was overvalued and the Fed's Beige Book survey said the US economy has picked up pace since November.

At 2200 GMT the euro traded at $1.3286, compared to $1.3304 late Tuesday.

The euro's fall was fueled by a report quoting Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the eurozone finance ministers' group and Luxembourg's prime minister, as saying the European single currency's value was "dangerously high."

The euro has climbed about six cents on the dollar since mid-November, buoyed by easing financial market tensions in the eurozone.

"Juncker is one of the more seasoned European politicians, having been PM for Luxembourg since 1995 along with serving as the European Council president twice," said Neal Gilbert of forex specialists GFT.

"Being one of the more respected members of the European community, it stands to reason that his feelings about the value of the euro may not be his alone; he may represent a contingent of politicians who share the same concerns," Gilbert said.

Meanwhile, the dollar got more help as the Federal Reserve, in its Beige Book survey of regional economies, said the results "indicated that economic activity has expanded since the previous Beige Book report, with all 12 districts characterizing the pace of growth as either modest or moderate."

The Fed suggested that the political fight over the so-called fiscal cliff had had some, but limited, overall impact on economic activity.

The yen rose against the dollar and euro: to 88.37 yen per dollar from 88.80 yen, and to 117.42 yen per euro from 118.14

The British pound fell to $1.6006 from $1.6063. The dollar bought 0.9309 Swiss francs, slighly lower than Tuesday.