The euro rose against the dollar for a third day on Wednesday but gains may be short-lived as a Portuguese debt sale did little to quell fears that indebted eurozone countries will struggle to meet their funding needs. Gains in the stock and commodities market lifted investors' appetite for risk and boosted the euro, which climbed above $1.31 and broke above its 200-day moving average at $1.3071 on trading platform EBS.
Attention now turns to Spain and Italy, which will sell debt in auctions on Thursday that will also be closely watched for signs of contagion. Analysts expect the sales to go without a major hitch, but at elevated costs. The euro last traded 1 percent higher at $1.3111, after rising as high as $1.3116 on EBS.
Against the yen, the euro was up 0.8 percent at 108.81 yen. The dollar fell 0.1 percent to 83.13 yen. The Australian dollar hit a fresh one-month low near $0.9803, before recovering. Worries about the effects from massive floods in north-east Australia hurt the Aussie.
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