The euro hit a near 16-month low against a robust dollar on Friday as investors looked at sovereign funding concerns in Europe and compared the economic outlook for the eurozone to an improving US recovery. The dollar got a big boost against most major currencies, touching its highest since February against the Swiss franc, after a report showed a larger-than-expected rise in US nonfarm payrolls in December and the jobless rate dropped to a three-year low.
The euro was 0.4 percent down against the dollar at $1.2726 after going as low as $1.2696, according to Reuters data, its weakest since September 2010. The euro's drop helped buoy the dollar to a high of 81.376 against a basket of currencies, its strongest since late November, 2010. The dollar index was last up 0.3 percent at 81.217. The eurozone common currency also hit a 16-month low versus sterling, while against the yen it was at 98.11 yen after touching a low of 97.88, its lowest since mid December 2000, according to Reuters data.