Bloomberg.com: Dollar Advances slightly against EURO and Yen as economic expansion falters and EU Constitution hits snags in France and Holland

Bloomberg.com"Dollar Advances slightly against EURO and Yen as economic expansion falters and EU Constitution hits snags in France and Holland"

Germany's six leading economic institutions today cut their projection for growth to 0.7 percent, from 1.5 percent.
Demand for the euro was also limited by speculation referendums in France and the Netherlands will reject the European Union's draft constitution. An IPP institute poll showed 58.2 percent of Dutch people would vote against the charter, euobserver.com reported today.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder lent his support to French President Jacques Chirac's call for a ``yes'' vote, in a joint statement published today. The French vote is on May 29.

``This becomes more relevant the closer we get to the date,'' said Daragh Maher, a currency strategist in London at Calyon, the securities unit of Credit Agricole SA. ``It's a euro negative'' should constitution-supporters such as Chirac fail to turn opinion around, he said. The euro may fall to $1.2760 in two weeks, he said."