NEW YORK -- The dollar slid to a record low $1.3334 against the euro in early trading Tuesday and edged lower against Japan's yen, too. Against the yen the dollar fell to 102.5 from 102.85 late Monday, holding above a 4 1/2 year low of 102.12 reached last week, CNN reported.
With little prospect of bankers from Europe or east Asia ready to intervene in currency markets to slow the dollar's decline, investors braced for more of what is now nearly a two year erosion of the U.S. currency. In January of 2002, one euro bought 86 cents: this week it was worth almost $1.32. The dollar has thus lost 35 percent against the euro.
Investors fear a weak dollar will force the Fed to raise interest rates in order to make dollar-denominated assets attractive to foreign investors.
Also, a weak dollar raises the prices of commodities, such as oil. Crude oil rose 39 cents to $50.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange early in the session, while Brent oil picked up 73 cents to $46.48 a barrel in London.
