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May 6 (Bloomberg) -- The euro traded near its weakest level in more than a year versus the dollar amid concern Greece’s debt crisis will spread through the region after Moody’s Investors Service warned that Portugal’s credit rating may be cut.

The 16-nation euro plunged to the lowest in more than two months against the yen yesterday after Greek demonstrations against austerity measures turned deadly. New Zealand’s dollar advanced after central bank Governor Alan Bollard said the nation’s economy is “less fragile,” signaling he may be able to raise interest rates from a record low.

“The debt crisis in Europe is now showing signs of contagion,” said Akio Yoshino, chief economist in Tokyo at Societe Generale Asset Management (Japan) Inc. “Such concern is weighing heavily on prospects for the euro.”

Europe’s common currency was at $1.2814 as of 8:13 a.m. in Tokyo, unchanged from the closing value in New York yesterday, after earlier touching $1.2789, the weakest since March 12, 2009. It was at 120.30 yen from 120.22 yen yesterday when it touched 119.96 yen, the lowest since March 2. The greenback bought 93.88 yen from 93.81 yen. Financial markets have been shut in Japan for the past three days for holidays.

New Zealand’s dollar climbed to 72.59 U.S. cents from 71.72 cents in New York.

Yield Spread

Moody’s placed its Aa2 rating for Portugal on review for a possible downgrade, a process that will conclude within three months, the company said in a statement. Portugal has held the third-highest Moody’s investment grade since 1998.

The yield premium investors demand to hold Portuguese 10- year bonds instead of benchmark German government debt rose to 295 basis points yesterday, the most since the euro’s introduction in 1999. Investors demanded 731 basis points more to hold 10-year Greek bonds instead of similar-maturity bunds, also a record.

“With no end to Greek-related troubles, the euro continues to suffer, falling below the $1.29 level for the first time in more than a year,” analysts led by Justin Smirk, chief economist at St. George Bank Ltd. in Sydney, wrote in a research note today.

Three people were killed after protesters set fire to a bank in central Athens in what Prime Minister George Papandreou called a “murderous act.”

The violence came during a general strike called after Papandreou announced a second set of wage cuts for public workers, a freeze on pensions and a second sales-tax increase to secure a bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The measures, which aim to tame a budget deficit of almost 14 percent of economic output, were denounced as “savage” by union leaders.

Kiwi Surges

New Zealand’s currency, known as kiwi, rose as swap traders see a 72 percent chance of a quarter-point rate rise at the June 10 review, according to a Credit Suisse AG index based on swaps trading.

“Financial markets currently expect the Reserve Bank to begin raising the official cash rate around the middle of the year and continue to do this in small steps for some time,” Bollard said in an e-mailed statement, based on a speech to local government officials in Dunedin today. “This is broadly in line with our current views.”

New Zealand’s currency also got a boost after government data showed the unemployment rate declined last quarter by the most since at least March 1986 as a recovery from recession stoked demand for extra workers.

The jobless rate fell to 6 percent from a revised 7.1 percent in the previous three months, Statistics New Zealand said in a Wellington today.

Sourced from www.businessweek.com