The euro slid against the dollar in morning European trading but managed to recovery slightly even as fears that the Greek financial crisis could spread to Portugal take their toll on the 16-nation currency.
The euro fell as low as $1.3155 in early trading before recovering somewhat to $1.3196, slightly above the $1.3184 it bought in late trading in New York the night before.
Concern over Greece’s credit rating being downgraded to junk status by Standard & Poor’s along with Portugal’s stability has hurt the euro, said Michael Hewson, a currency analyst with CMC Markets.