Market rollercoaster: Euro’s ups and downs since launch

THE euro hit a record high against the dollar for a second day on Friday last, rising above $1.3540, as investors worried about the US current account deficit and economy, and pushed the single currency higher in thin holiday trade.

The following is a chronology showing the fall and rise of Europe’s nearly six-year-old single currency:

January 1999 - euro begins trading at $1.1747 on January 4 and rises on the same day to around $1.19, a level that remains its all-time high until May 2003. It then begins a decline fuelled both by dollar strength and by a perceived reluctance of the new European Central Bank (ECB) to respond to political and market pressure for lower interest rates to help economic growth.