The euro dipped below 1.21 dollars Monday for the first time in two years, bottoming out at 1.2082 dollars before inching a little higher on European foreign-exchange markets.
Its low point was half a US cent below its traded value late
Friday and fully one cent below Friday's European Central Bank
reference rate, 1.2200 euros, with traders concerned that eurozone
politicians have still not fixed the region's debt problems.
The start-of-the-week value of the common currency marked an
11-year low against the Japanese yen.
Markets were spooked by fresh speculation that Greece might leave
the eurozone, while the yield for Spanish 10-year bonds rose past 7.5
per cent, the highest since the creation of the euro.
Later in Europe, the euro was posted at 1.2108 dollars.
Japanese shares had dropped 1.8 per cent earlier Monday as
export-linked stocks were pulled down by the yen's rise. A weak euro
makes it harder to sell into the eurozone, one of the world's major
markets for goods and services.
