European bank auctions off bills, euro at 10-year low against yen

The European Central Bank lent a record-setting amount of money to regional banks today in order to keep credit flowing, Bloomberg reported. The euro has fallen against the yen to a 10-year low and the lowest it has been to the dollar in nearly 12 months. Stocks dropped amid reports that signaled that the global economy was slowing despite the dollar gaining.

Against nine other developed-nation counterparts, the euro has depreciated approximately 1.7 percent this year alone, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Currency Indexes, while the dollar appreciated 1.7 percent.

"This is more about year-end, things have been illiquid. All it takes is a few orders and a few trades to substantially knock the euro lower," Richard Franulovich, senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in New York, told the news source.

As bond auctions in Italy were considered successful, it was still not enough to help appreciate the euro against the dollar. However there may be reason for investors to become more confident about the country's ability to pay off its debt, as it auctioned off six-month bills at much lower borrowing costs, according to The New York Times.