The euro had fallen below the threshold of $ 1.52

The euro had fallen below the threshold of $ 1.52 late Friday afternoon, falling back slightly below its level of the previous day, after beating a new record in the morning thanks to a German indicator and About Fed chairman Ben Bernanke.

The European currency has climbed to at 08H00 GMT never seen 1.5239 dollar against the euro, having already crossed Tuesday for the symbolic 1.50 dollar for the first time since its inception in 1999.

The single currency fell against the yen, to 158.23 yen against 160.04 yen Thursday evening.

The dollar also lost ground against the Japanese currency, at 104.32 yen against 105.30 the night before. The dollar fell to 104.04 yen to 14H45 GMT, its lowest level since May 2005.

The euro was supported Friday morning by a rebound in retail sales in Germany. But his positive effect on the single currency was then partly offset by a worrisome indicator: the index of economic confidence in the euro zone fell to 100.1 points, its lowest level since December 2005.

This figure provides "further evidence of a slowdown in economic activity, combined with strong pressure on prices", analysed Jennifer McKeown, economist at Capital Economics.

However, the final figures of inflation in the euro zone published Friday should reinforce the European Central Bank in its tight monetary policy: it rose to its highest level for more than a decade in January, to 3.2 % over the same month of the previous year.

With these figures, "the hawks (proponents of monetary stringency, ndlr) of the ECB should remain on the alert", and believed Audrey Childe-Freemann, economist at CIBC.

The dollar, for its part, remained under pressure after the remarks made Thursday by the chairman of the Federal Reserve (Fed), Ben Bernanke before Congress.

The Fed chairman seemed more concerned about the risks to growth and the threat of inflation, according to currency traders, who have interpreted these statements as a guarantee of a fall in the American rate, currently set at 3% at the next meeting of the Fed planned on March 18.

Always American side, operators have digested the announcement of a fall in February industrial activity in the Chicago area, reverted to its lowest level in six years. Moreover, household confidence in the country continues to deteriorate: it dropped to 70.8 points in February, compared with 78.4 in January, according to the index calculated by the University of Michigan.

The British pound fell slightly against the euro at 76.47 pence, after touching in the morning a new lowest historic deal with the single currency at 76.78 pence, and fell as low facing greenback 1.9861 to the dollar.

The Swiss franc gained ground against the European currency at 1.5844 franc against the euro, as the face of the greenback at 1.0438 francs to the dollar.

The ounce of gold was quoted at 971.50 dollars fixing evening against 959.75 dollars at auction yesterday, after having prepared in the morning a new historic record at $ 976.32.

The Chinese yuan closed at a new record high of 7.1115 yuan to one dollar, compared with 7.1133 yuan Thursday.


The European currency has climbed to at 08H00 GMT never seen 1.5239 dollar against the euro, having already crossed Tuesday for the symbolic 1.50 dollar for the first time since its launch in 1999