The euro gained for a second straight session against the dollar on Tuesday, pulling further away from recent three-week lows, on growing expectations the euro zone's fourth-largest economy Spain is ready to seek a bailout. The euro was last 0.5 percent higher on the day at $1.2946, rising from Monday's low at $1.2802, its lowest in three weeks.
It has eased from a four-month peak of $1.3169 hit in mid-September after the ECB announced its bond-buying plan to lower yields on peripheral euro zone debt and the US Federal Reserve teed up another round of monetary easing. Against the yen, the euro was 0.5 percent higher at 100.98 yen. The dollar was slightly higher against the Japanese currency R to 78.01 yen, having hit a more than one-week high of 78.21 after Japan's new finance chief warned of possible action to cap the currency's rise. The Aussie dollar fell to US $1.0291, its lowest level since early September. It was last down 0.7 percent at US $1.0288. The euro climbed around 1.2 percent to A$1.2591.