* Dollar index registers biggest weekly gain in 11 months 
    * U.S. Q3 GDP rises 3 pct, exceeds analyst forecasts 
    * Catalan parliament vote to secede boosts yen, Swiss franc 
 
 (Updates market action) 
    By Richard Leong 
    NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The euro fell on Friday, 
marking its biggest weekly loss of the year a day after the 
European Central Bank decided to prolong its bond purchases and 
signaled its willingness to stick with an ultra-loose policy 
stance. 
    The tension between Madrid and Catalonia's secessionists 
also stoked selling in the single currency after the Catalan 
parliament on Friday declared independence from Madrid following 
a secret ballot. Spain Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy retaliated 
by sacking the Catalan government and set elections on Dec. 21. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nF9N1C404H  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nE8N1AD028 
    "The dovish surprise from the ECB was its openness to extend 
the duration of its bond purchase program," said Omer Esiner, 
chief market strategist at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in 
Washington.  
    On Thursday, the ECB said it will extend its bond purchases 
into September 2018 while reducing its monthly purchases by half 
to 30 billion euros starting in January.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nF9N1C404H 
    The move raised bets the ECB was unlikely to raise interest 
rates until 2019 as the U.S. Federal Reserve has remained on its 
path to hike U.S. rates further. 
    The Fed will hold a two-day policy meeting next Tuesday and 
Wednesday where policy-makers are expected to leave rates 
unchanged.  
    The euro  EUR=  was down 0.5 percent at $1.1595, bringing 
its weekly loss against the dollar to 1.6 percent for the 
biggest in 11 months. 
    Against the yen, the common currency  EURJPY=  was 0.6 
percent lower at 131.98 yen after touching its weakest level in 
nearly two weeks. 
    The Catalan parliament vote revived some safe-haven demand 
for the yen and Swiss franc  CHF= . 
    Even in the aftermath of Friday's political turmoil, "the 
situation in Spain seemed largely contained for now," Eisner 
said. 
    As the euro wobbled this week, the dollar strengthened on 
upbeat economic data, hopes for a tax cut and speculation about 
President Donald Trump's selection of someone who favors a 
faster pace of rate increases than current Fed Chair Janet 
Yellen, whose term expires in February. 
    The U.S. government reported on Friday that the economy grew 
at a 3.0 percent annual rate in the third quarter, faster than 
the 2.5 percent forecast among economists polled by Reuters. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1MZ1UL 
    Earlier Friday, Bloomberg reported that Trump leans toward 
nominating Fed Governor Jerome Powell as the next Fed chief, but 
has not made up his mind.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN1N21RY 
    The dollar pared gains briefly on that report as Powell is 
seen less hawkish than Stanford University economist John 
Taylor, another potential nominee to lead the central bank. 
    Trump, who is expected to announce his Fed chief candidate 
nex week, is also considering Yellen, former Fed Governor Kevin 
Warsh and his economic adviser, Gary Cohn, for the Fed's top 
job.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS0N1MN00H 
    The index that tracks the dollar against six currencies 
 .DXY  was up 0.3 percent at 94.919 after hitting a three-month 
high at 95.150. It gained 1.3 percent for its biggest weekly 
increase so far this year. 
======================================================== 
    Currency bid prices at 1500 EDT (1900 GMT): 
 Description      RIC       Last      U.S. Close  Pct     YTD Pct  High Bid   Low Bid 
                                      Previous    Change  Change               
                                      Session                                  
 Euro/Dollar      EUR=      $1.1597   $1.1650     -0.45   +10.31   +1.1657    +1.1575 
 Dollar/Yen       JPY=      113.7800  113.9700    -0.17   -2.64    +114.4400  +113.7200 
 Euro/Yen         EURJPY=   131.96    132.77      -0.61   +7.16    +132.9400  +131.7500 
 Dollar/Swiss     CHF=      0.9984    0.9975      +0.09   -1.91    +1.0037    +0.9974 
 Sterling/Dollar  GBP=      1.3122    1.3158      -0.27   +6.37    +1.3162    +1.3072 
 Dollar/Canadian  CAD=      1.2850    1.2845      +0.04   -4.32    +1.2916    +1.2846 
 Australian/Doll  AUD=      0.7666    0.7660      +0.08   +6.25    +0.7672    +0.7626 
 ar                                                                            
 Euro/Swiss       EURCHF=   1.1580    1.1622      -0.36   +8.05    +1.1648    +1.1561 
 Euro/Sterling    EURGBP=   0.8836    0.8851      -0.17   +3.73    +0.8901    +0.8825 
 NZ               NZD=      0.6871    0.6842      +0.42   -1.01    +0.6875    +0.6819 
 Dollar/Dollar                                                                 
 Dollar/Norway    NOK=      8.1553    8.1684      -0.16   -5.58    +8.2284    +8.1539 
 Euro/Norway      EURNOK=   9.4576    9.5181      -0.64   +4.09    +9.5420    +9.4577 
 Dollar/Sweden    SEK=      8.3610    8.3476      -0.26   -8.20    +8.3998    +8.3434 
 Euro/Sweden      EURSEK=   9.6984    9.7234      -0.26   +1.24    +9.7505    +9.6917 
     
     
 
    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
EURUSD and real interest rates    http://reut.rs/2yKLOEt 
Annual returns for the dollar index since 2012 DataStream Chart  
  http://reut.rs/1N5gZY8 
World FX rates in 2017    http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh 
U.S. GDP     http://tmsnrt.rs/1jLPbzV 
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> 
 (Additional reporting by Saikat Chatterjee in London; Editing 
by Dan Grebler and Chizu Nomiyama) 
 ((richard.leong@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6313; Reuters 
Messaging: richard.leong.thomsonreuters.com@thomsonreuters.net; 
Twitter @RichardLeong2)) 
  
((All spots FX=  
Tokyo spots AFX=  
Europe spots EFX=  
Volatilities FXVOL=  
Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ TKYFX World central bank news CEN 
Economic Forecasts... ECON   Official rates...INT/RATE 
Forex Diary.......MI/DIARY   Top events........M/DIARY 
Diaries...........DIARY Diaries Index........IND/DIARY 
Press Digests.....PRESS Polls on G7 economies..SURVEY/ 
European markets......MARKETS/)))) 
 
Keywords: GLOBAL FOREX/