The dollar fell against the yen and euro after the International Monetary Fund said the U.S. housing slump still poses ``serious risks'' to financial markets.

The currency declined against the Swiss franc and British pound before private and industry reports this week that may show the housing market is worsening. The euro gained after an adviser to the German government said European policy makers may increase interest rates as soon as the financial crisis ends. The Australian dollar rose to its highest level in 24 years after minutes of the central bank's last meeting signaled policy makers considered raising rates.

``The dollar has been coming under pressure versus the euro lately, which could be the start of a new trend,'' said Neil Mellor, a currency strategist at Bank of New York Mellon Corp. in London. ``The financial crisis is certainly not over yet, which will weigh on the dollar. And the euro is being buoyed by the continued hawkishness of the European Central Bank.''

The dollar declined to 103.97 yen at 6:40 a.m. in New York, from 104.33 yen late yesterday. The currency slid to $1.5668 per euro, from $1.5510. The euro was at 162.38 yen, from 161.81.

``We still see serious risks to global financial stability,'' IMF Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky said in a speech in Tokyo today that was delivered by Daniel Citrin, the IMF's Asia-Pacific deputy director.

The U.S. currency slipped to $1.9664 against the British pound from $1.9489, and declined to 1.0402 versus the Swiss franc from 1.0533. The Dollar Index traded on ICE futures in New York, which tracks the dollar against currencies of six trading partners, fell to 72.430 from 73.045 yesterday.

U.S. House Prices

U.S. house prices slid 1.3 percent in the first quarter, based on a Bloomberg News survey of economists before the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight report due May 22. Home resales declined 1.6 percent in April, according to a separate survey before May 23 data from the National Association of Realtors.

The euro gained against the dollar after a government report showed German producer-price inflation, an early indicator of price pressures in the economy, accelerated to the fastest pace in almost two years in April on energy costs.

Prices for goods from newsprint to plastics increased 5.2 percent from a year earlier, the most since August 2006, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today. Economists expected a 4.7 percent gain, the median of 34 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey shows. Prices rose 1.1 percent from March.

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