The euro fell on Monday, ending a five-day rally against the dollar, and Spanish bonds dropped as the region’s ministers debated a bailout plan. United States stock futures declined abroad after Apple said that its chief executive, Steve Jobs, was taking a medical leave of absence.

      Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, of which Apple is the second-biggest member, lost 0.3 percent.

      The Shanghai Composite index tumbled 3 percent, leading Asian shares lower, on concern that China’s anti-inflation measures would curb growth. The MSCI Emerging Markets index fell 0.4 percent. Markets in the United States were closed for Martin Luther King’s Birthday.

      European finance ministers met in Brussels on Monday and discussed ways to increase the financing capacity of the European Financial Stability Facility. They also addressed ways to broaden its role to allow it to buy bonds or extend credit to countries, perhaps to help in future bank restructuring.

      “There’s plenty of reasons to be circumspect on the euro after the rally last week,” said Jeremy Stretch, executive director of foreign-exchange strategy at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in London.

      The Nasdaq-100 index futures expiring in March sank 1.3 percent in electronic trading. Apple accounts for about 21 percent of the Nasdaq 100, a gauge of the largest companies that trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The index closed last week at its highest level since February 2001. Apple shares tumbled 6.2 percent in Germany after the shares closed at a record $348.48 last week in New York.

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      Apple said its chief operating officer, Tim Cook, would be responsible for the company’s day-to-day operations, with Mr. Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, continuing as chief. Mr. Jobs took a nearly six-month break to have a liver transplant in 2009.

      “Apple shares will obviously be getting hit, as shareholders rightfully command a premium for a C.E.O. like Steve Jobs,” said David Lutz, managing director at Stifel Nicolaus in Baltimore. “Any sell-off will be used as a buying opportunity, as Steve Jobs has high confidence in Tim Cook, and the two have worked closely defining Apple’s strategy and vision. Last time Jobs had to take time, that proved a huge buying opportunity for the stock.”

      Apple, as well as companies including Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, are scheduled to release earnings this week.

      Most Canadian stocks fell, led by energy producers, as an Alaska pipeline prepared to restart and Chinese stocks dropped the most in two months. The S&P/TSX Composite index slipped 0.2 percent.

      The euro was down 0.7 percent to $1.3289 at 4:27 p.m. in New York. The euro weakened versus all but two of its most-traded counterparts, sliding 0.9 percent against the yen. The dollar index, which tracks the currency against those of six trading partners, advanced 0.3 percent, rising for the first time in six days.

      Spain’s 10-year bonds decreased as the government halted auctions on Jan. 20 in favor of selling debt through banks.

      The cost of credit-default swaps, or insuring debt, sold by Europe’s so-called peripheral nations rose, ending four days of declines. The Euro Stoxx 50 was down 9.77 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,910.63. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto led mining companies lower. BP climbed 0.2 percent in London, and OAO Rosneft rallied 5.2 percent in Russia after the oil companies agreed to swap equity stakes as part of a drive to extract billions of barrels of Arctic petroleum.

      Britain’s FTSE 100 closed down 16.37 points, or 0.3 percent, and France’s CAC 40 dropped 7.87 points, or 0.2 percent. In Germany, the DAX ended the day 2.36 points, or less than 0.1 percent, higher.

      Oil fell as much as 0.8 percent to $90.83 a barrel as the operators of a pipeline from Alaska prepared to restore flows to the United States.

Source from The New York Times