Euro Falls Off New Record Perch Above $1.2
The euro earlier rose past the key psychological barrier of $1.20, setting a post-launch high of 1.2018 dollars as concerns about the large U.S. current account deficit plagued the greenback. The single European currency's previous all-time peak of $1.1979 dollars was set on November 19.
Meanwhile the pound set a series of five-year highs.
In late trade, the euro stood at 1.1995 dollars, up from 1.1908 late on Thursday.
The dollar was at 109.50 yen, up from 109.08 Thursday.
"Dollar sentiment has been very weak indeed but it was always very unlikely that the euro was going to make a clean break for 1.20 dollars," said Jane Foley, analyst at Barclays Capital.
Analysts said continued worries over the United States current account deficit had been besetting the dollar.
These concerns were highlighted by last week's news that portfolio inflows had all but dried up in September, suggesting the US current account deficit was not being financed.
The very same worries have also meant that strong US data has been ignored for some time now, analysts said.
But with much of the United States extending Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday into the weekend, sparse activity levels have exaggerated movements, dealers said.
The dollar looks set for further declines, analysts said.
"The U.S. authorities are not unhappy about the dollar's decline and will maintain this position until either the trade position has stabilized, or the dollar's weakness starts to undermine the Treasury market," Bear Sterns analysts said in a statement.
"But the U.S. authorities are unlikely to make noises just yet and dollar weakness has many, many months, if not years, to run," they added.
The pound and the Swiss franc were also off highs against the dollar but still substantially higher than Thursday.
The yen alone could not make much progress against the dollar after the morning's soft Japanese industrial production and unemployment data.