The euro enjoyed a respite from its beatings at the hands of the dollar Tuesday morning, but slumped to a new record low versus the swiss franc.
Safe haven currencies have battered the euro of late due to lingering concerns that the sixteen-nation monetary unit could be torn apart by sovereign debt problems.
A number of European nations face the prospect of making severe austerity cuts, which will result in continued slow growth, or suffer elevated borrowing costs as bond markets bet on a series of defaults.
The euro tumbled to 1.3760 versus the swiss franc, extending its steep recent losses. The euro began the year above 1.5000 versus its Swiss counterpart.
Against the dollar, the euro hovered near 1.1900, having touched a 4-year low of 1.1805 in the previous session.
The single currency gained a bit of ground versus the sterling, rising to .8300 from a year and a half low of .8210.
German industrial production grew 0.9% in April from the previous month, data released by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology showed Tuesday. April’s growth was bigger than the expected 0.7%, but considerably smaller than the revised 4.3% growth seen in March.
Meanwhile, German exports fell more than expected in April following a near-record high growth in March, giving a sluggish start to the second quarter.
