Fears about global economy push euro to 2-year low

Concerns about the global economy pushed the euro to a two-year low against the dollar Thursday.

The euro has fallen 4 percent against the dollar this month due to Europe's spreading financial crisis and worries of an economic slowdown in China.

Traders will see how China's economy is doing Friday when the country releases its second-quarter gross domestic growth figures. Economists expect growth to have fallen to 7.3 percent, down from the previous quarter's 8.1 percent.

A slowdown hurts other country's economies that were expecting China to increase demand for exports and keep the global economy growing.

The euro fell to $1.2195 late Thursday from $1.2226 late Wednesday. Earlier, the euro fell as low as $1.2165, its lowest point against the dollar since July 1, 2010.

The dollar also got a boost against the euro a day after the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting. The minutes, released Wednesday, suggested that another round of bond purchases by the Fed was not imminent. Those purchases would have pushed interest rates lower, weakening the dollar.

The British pound fell to $1.5428 from $1.5494. The dollar rose to 0.9846 Swiss franc from 0.9822 Swiss franc.

The dollar fell to 79.31 Japanese yen from 79.65 Japanese yen and to 1.0186 Canadian dollar from 1.0213 Canadian dollar.

The Associated Press