The euro hit a record high against the dollar early today as euphoria over the weekend capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein quickly gave way to old fears about the US current account deficit.
The euro rose as high as $1.2355 - a gain of 0.3 per cent on the day. As of 5.45 a.m. Irish time, it was at $1.2335 versus $1.2310 in late US trade.
"It's clear Saddam was not running insurgent attacks in Iraq and that his arrest does not mean the end of violence in the Middle East," said Mr Takashi Toyahara, forex manager at Nomura Securities.
The euro also rose to 132.95 yen up about 0.4 per cent from 132.48 in late US trading.
The dollar managed to show a small gain against the yen on concerns that the Japanese authorities would step in to stop the US currency's descent. The greenback was trading around 107.80, yen up about 0.2 per cent from late New York levels.