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By Bloomberg

The euro fell for a second day against the yen, set for the biggest weekly slide since 2013, as reports from around Europe added to evidence of a deepening slump that may prompt additional stimulus measures.

Europe’s common currency was about 0.5 percent from a nine- year low against the dollar as reports showed industrial production contracted in Germany, France and Finland, coming a day after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said stimulus measures may include sovereign-bond purchases. The dollar dropped against the yen as Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota said raising U.S. interest rates this year would hinder the recovery in inflation.

“How many hints do you need from Draghi that the ECB will potentially look at government-bond purchases?” said Robert Rennie, head of currency and commodity strategy at Westpac Banking Corp. in Sydney. “That continues to be a key driver of euro weakness.”

The euro dropped 0.1 percent to 141.01 yen as of 9:24 a.m. London time, having tumbled 2.5 percent this week, the most since the period ended June 14, 2013. Against its U.S. peer, the euro gained 0.2 percent to $1.1815, still down more than 1.5 percent in the week. It reached $1.1754 yesterday, the weakest since December 2005. The dollar fell 0.2 percent to 119.41 yen. It surged to 121.85 on Dec. 8, the strongest since July 2007.

The 19-nation currency is set to fall to as low as $1.15, Rennie said, without giving a time frame.

Production Slumping

Industrial output in Germany, adjusted for seasonal swings, fell 0.1 percent in November from October, when it climbed a revised 0.6 percent, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. Analysts in a Bloomberg News survey predicted an increase of 0.3 percent. In France, the decline was 0.3 percent compared with a forecast in a separate survey of a 0.3 percent gain, while Finland’s 0.2 percent drop compared with a median prediction of a 0.2 percent gain.

The euro has fallen against all its 16 major counterparts this week as Draghi, in a letter to European Parliament lawmaker Luke Flanagan released yesterday, echoed his remarks made after the Governing Council’s Dec. 4 meeting.

“The Governing Council will reassess the monetary stimulus,” Draghi said in the letter dated Jan. 6 and published on the ECB’s website. “This may imply adjusting the size, pace and composition of the ECB’s measures. Such measures may entail the purchase of a variety of assets -- one of which could be sovereign bonds.”