The euro climbed against the dollar to within a cent of a record high after European Central Bank governing council member Christian Noyer signaled policy makers may raise interest rates.

Europe's single currency also advanced before the release of a private report economists say will show U.S. sales of previously owned homes fell in March, reinforcing speculation the Federal Reserve will keep cutting borrowing costs to shore up the economy. The Canadian dollar declined before a central bank meeting forecast to end with a half-percentage point cut in the benchmark rate.

``In this environment the rhetoric from the ECB, especially the hardliners, remains strong and the market's taking that on board,'' said Jeremy Stretch, a senior market strategist in London at Rabobank International, the third-largest Dutch bank. ``With fears about more negativity in the U.S. housing market, it looks like the euro-dollar's going to be biased on the upside.''

The euro traded as high as $1.5969 and was at $1.5930 as of 6:51 a.m. in New York, from $1.5912 yesterday. It climbed to a record $1.5983 on April 17. The currency rose to 164.49 yen, advancing from a low of 163.29 today. The dollar was little changed at 103.27 per yen.

The Canadian dollar declined on speculation the nation's central bank will cut its main rate to the lowest level since December 2005, to help boost the economy as exports fall to the U.S., the nation's biggest trading partner. The central bank will cut its main rate to 3 percent, according to economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

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