Euro Hits Four-Year Low; Asian Stocks Continue Their Slide

By DAVID JOLLY and BETTINA WASSENER
NYT

PARIS — The euro began the week by hitting a four-year low against the dollar and Chinese equities joined the decline in global stocks Monday, adding a new element of concern to the recent market turmoil.

Euro-zone finance ministers were to hold their regular monthly meeting in Brussels late Monday, but some analysts said policymakers were running out of options. A nearly $1 trillion support package for indebted European nations, announced a week ago, failed to reassure markets for very long.

Derek Halpenny, a currency strategist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in London, said the most worrying thing was “the fact that there is nothing now left for European authorities to do to shore up confidence.”

As it has at times of stress since the start of the financial crisis more than two years ago, the dollar rose against most major currencies. The euro fell to $1.2295 — its lowest since at least April 2006 — from $1.2359 late Friday in New York, while the British pound fell to $1.4429 from $1.4538.

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