Early trade in New York: euro falls to 8-1/2-month low versus dollar

The euro fell to an 8-1/2-month low against the dollar on Monday as mounting fears of a Greek default deepened investor concern about the eurozone's banking sector. With Europe still deeply divided over how to tackle the spiralling debt crisis and the risks that poses for the bigger eurozone economies and the financial sector, the euro is likely to stay under pressure, market players said.
The euro was down 1 percent at $1.32528 on electronic trading platform EBS, having fallen to a low of $1.32372 - its lowest since mid-January. Against the safe-haven yen, the euro was down 1.4 percent at 101.677 yen on EBS. Earlier it touched a low of 101.532, the lowest since at least 2004 on EBS.