Early trade in New York: euro takes a pause from recent sharp selloff

The euro rose from an 11-month low against the dollar on Thursday as a successful auction of Spanish debt and strong US data whetted risk appetite, a trend some say could prove temporary. The euro jumped to a global session high of $1.3049 after data showed new applications for US unemployment insurance fell to a 3-1/2 year low, suggesting the job market's recovery was gaining speed.
The euro was last up 0.3 percent against the dollar at $1.3014, taking a breather from a massive selloff earlier this week when it dropped to $1.2945 on Wednesday, the lowest level since January 11, on trading platform EBS. The next major support is at the year's low, $1.2860, hit on January 10. The euro last traded down 1.1 percent at 1.2236 Swiss francs while the dollar traded 1.3 percent lower against the franc at 0.9402 francs. Against the yen, the dollar, meanwhile, eased 0.3 percent to 77.84 yen.