IMF chief Strauss-Kahn undergoing tests over sex charge
IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has consented to a medical examination over allegations of serious sexual assault.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, who was arrested on Saturday, denies attacking and attempting to rape a hotel maid.
He had been due to appear in court on Sunday but the hearing was postponed until Monday to allow the forensic tests to be carried out.
The former French finance minister is also considered a possible Socialist candidate for the presidency.
He had been scheduled to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday in Berlin and then attend an EU finance ministers' meeting in Brussels on Monday on bailouts for Portugal and Greece.
Correspondents say he has been central to efforts to stabilise the finances of struggling eurozone member states and his detention is likely to complicate the process.
The Euro fell half a cent to $1.4063 when Asian markets opened on Monday - a six-week low against the dollar - reflecting concerns about the impact the arrest could have on bailouts plans for Portugal and Greece.
Mr Strauss-Kahn - often referred to in France simply as DSK - had been detained at JFK airport on Saturday night as he prepared to fly to Europe.
He is believed to have been in New York on personal business and does not have diplomatic immunity.
Correspondents say he has been central to efforts to stabilise the finances of struggling eurozone member states and his detention is likely to complicate the process.
The Euro fell half a cent to $1.4063 when Asian markets opened on Monday - a six-week low against the dollar - reflecting concerns about the impact the arrest could have on bailouts plans for Portugal and Greece.
Mr Strauss-Kahn - often referred to in France simply as DSK - had been detained at JFK airport on Saturday night as he prepared to fly to Europe.
He is believed to have been in New York on personal business and does not have diplomatic immunity.
The BBC's David Chazan says there has been a mixed reaction to the arrest in France, with some people seeing it as a national humiliation but others suggesting that he might have been set up by his political opponents.
Mr Strauss-Kahn was widely expected to announce his intention to run for the French presidency soon, and was seen as having a genuine chance of beating President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Paris regional councillor Michelle Sabban told AFP: "I am convinced it is an international conspiracy... This is a new form of political assassination."
Socialist legislator Jean-Marie Le Guen said: "The facts as they were reported today have nothing to do with the Dominique Strauss-Kahn whom we know."
Career damaged
Meanwhile, a centre-right opponent of Mr Strauss-Kahn's, Dominique Paille, said if the allegations were true, it would be "an historic moment, but in the negative sense, for French political life".
"I hope that everyone respects the presumption of innocence. I cannot manage to believe this affair," he told French TV.
But the leader of the National Front party, Marine Le Pen, said Mr Strauss-Kahn had been "definitively discredited".
Mr Strauss-Kahn has won praise for his stewardship of the IMF, which he has guided through difficult times including the recent world financial crisis.
In 2008, he was criticised by the IMF board for an affair with a subordinate member of staff. The board said the affair had been consensual but reflected a "serious error of judgement".
John Lipsky has been appointed acting managing director of the IMF in his absence.
The fund's director of external relations, Caroline Atkinson, said the organisation remained "fully functioning and operational".
BBC News
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