ECB's Trichet says he's 'concerned' about euro's rise

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said he's "concerned" about the euro's appreciation - - his most direct comments since the euro's rise to record levels above $1.50 versus the dollar, Bloomberg News reported Monday.

The euro rose about one-half cent to $1.5407 versus the dollar before retreating to $1.5351 in Monday afternoon trading.

``We're concerned about excessive exchange-rate moves in the present circumstances,'' Trichet told Bloomberg News in Basel, Switzerland Monday. It's the first time Trichet has specifically expressed worry about the currency since November 2007, when he said he opposed "brutal" moves.

Amid a U.S. economic slowdown and U.S. Federal Reserve efforts to stimulate the world's largest economy with interest rate cuts, the ECB has maintained a status-quo monetary policy, keeping its benchmark refinance rate a 4%. That sand-pat policy has contributed to a flight out of the dollar and into the euro, which increases the cost of euro-zone exports to the U.S., if European companies raise prices to compensate for the dollar's depreciation. The euro has risen more than 5% versus the dollar this year, and is up more than 90% since 2001.

Forex Analysis: Trichet's comments came as a surprise. A hawk, Trichet has heretofore underscored the need for monetary policy discipline to contain euro-zone inflation. Further, Trichet has sided with the monetarists' school that argues that foreign exchange rate changes should be market-determined, so long as they are gradual. In addition, the ECB has never intervened in the currency markets to weaken the euro, and last intervened to strengthen it in 2000. No change is expected in that policy given Monday's comments, barring a sudden, large fall in the dollar / rise in the euro.