MW: Euro falls to four-year low against dollar in Asia trade
By MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The euro extended its losses against the U.S. dollar in Asian trading Monday, falling to its lowest level since April 2006, as worries about Europe's fiscal situation persisted.
The euro extended its losses after falling below the $1.2300 level, falling as far as $1.2233 according to FactSet Research and reportedly touching $1.2234 on popular currency trading platform EBS.
"There was little in the way of a specific catalyst for the initial sell-off, though stops in [the] euro through the previous 1.2330 low (of October 2008) triggered a run," wrote Sue Trinh, senior currency strategist at Royal Bank of Canada in Hong Kong, in a note to clients Monday.
The euro (CUR_EURUSD 1.2299, -0.0052, -0.4210%) slipped to $1.2298, from $1.2375 in late North American trading on Friday.
The dollar index (DXY 86.65, +0.55, +0.64%) , which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six other major currencies, rose to 86.641 from 86.158 late Friday.
The Japanese yen, which also tends to benefit when investors shift toward assets perceived as safer, gained ground. The dollar (CUR_USDYEN 92.0400, -0.2700, -0.2925%) fell to ¥92.16 from ¥92.21 late Friday.
The British pound (CUR_GBPUSD 1.4379, -0.0146, -1.0052%) was also pressured against the dollar, falling to $1.4408, down 0.8%. Read commentary on Britain's role in the euro's plight.
"On the present trajectory, the euro will lurch toward parity with the U.S. dollar and through it before year-end, then disintegrate," Uwe Parpart, chief Asia strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald, said in emailed comments Monday.
The European unit last traded at parity to the U.S. dollar in 2002.
On Friday, the euro slumped to its lowest level against the dollar since October 2008, as worries about European financial stability and the political will to enact unpopular deficit-reduction measures led traders to dump the shared currency.
