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By Bloomberg

The euro fell for a second day, heading for a fourth straight quarter of declines, amid concerns Greece will fail to reach agreement with its European creditors to unlock bailout funds.

The single currency weakened versus all except two of its 16 major counterparts as the European Central Bank buys sovereign bonds to support growth and stave off deflation. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sought to rally a consensus in parliament for his effort to secure bailout funds after his proposals to bolster the nation’s finances failed to satisfy his European creditors.

“Markets are becoming more sensitive to the Greek issue,” said Shusuke Yamada, a Tokyo-based currency strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “In addition, the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing is keeping downward pressure on the euro. Fundamentals point to euro selling.”

The euro fell 0.5 percent to $1.0784 as of 7:05 a.m. in London, after sliding 0.5 percent on Monday. The single currency has weakened 11 percent this year against the dollar.

Europe’s most-indebted state is locked in talks with euro- area countries and the International Monetary Fund over the terms attached to its 240 billion-euro ($259 billion) rescue. The standoff, which has left Greece dependent upon European Central Bank loans, risks leading to a default within weeks and its potential exit from the euro area.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which measures the greenback against 10 major peers, added 0.1 percent to 1,200.67. It has posted nine successive months of gains, the longest winning streak in data going back to 2004.

Aussie Falls

Australia’s dollar lost 0.3 percent to 76.35 U.S. cents, declining for a sixth day and on course for a third quarterly loss on speculation the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut interest rates next week as iron ore price slides and China’s economy slows down.

The Aussie touched a six-year low of 75.61 U.S. cents on March 11. It traded at NZ$1.0199 from NZ$1.0202, after falling to NZ$1.0157 on Monday, the lowest since the currencies were allowed to float freely in the 1980s.

A slowdown in China has contributed to a more than 50 percent decline in the price of iron ore, Australia’s top export earner, over the past 12 months. The price of the metal dropped to its lowest since at least May 2009 on Monday. More than a third of Australia’s total outbound trade goes to China.

“A softer outlook for the Australian economy, the likelihood of another domestic rate cut in the near term and downside risk to commodity prices also point to a weaker profile for the Australian dollar,” Janu Chan, senior economist at St. George Bank which is a division of Westpac Banking Corp., wrote in a note to clients dated March 31.