London - The European single currency slid against the dollar on Wednesday, dampened by weaker stock markets, while the US unit was lifted by record-beating results from hi-tech giant Intel, dealers said.
In late morning trading in London, the euro declined to $1.2710, down from $1.2729 in New York late on Tuesday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar rose to
¥88.73 from ¥88.63 on Tuesday.
"Today the dollar could receive a boost, especially against the higher yielding currencies, in reaction to robust US corporate earnings from Intel," said CurrenciesDirect analyst Philip Ryan.
Overnight, Intel reported quarterly profits of $2.9bn, the best result in the firm's 42-year history, as the US earnings season gained momentum.
On the radar later on Wednesday, traders will digest US retail sales and minutes from the US Federal Reserve's latest interest rate meeting.
Further ahead, JPMorgan Chase kicks off the US financial sector's earnings season on Thursday, followed by Bank of America and Citigroup on Friday.
The euro meanwhile fell on Wednesday in line with downbeat stock markets that fell victim to profit-taking following recent strong gains.
Despite modest losses, the euro remained resilient after Moody's downgrade of Portugal's credit rating by two notches.
The shared eurozone unit initially fell on Tuesday after Moody's said it had downgraded Portugal's debt rating, citing the country's deteriorating public finances and weak growth prospects.
But overall concerns for the health of the eurozone later eased when Greece successfully raised funds on the bond market just two months after an EU-IMF bailout averted a national bankruptcy.
In recent days, the euro has been hampered by concerns about the potential outcome of so-called "stress tests" on 91 European banks to see if they can survive major shocks.
The tests by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) and national bank regulators are set to be published on July 23.
In trading in London on Tuesday, the euro traded at $1.2710 against $1.2729 on Monday, at ¥112.78,
£0.8334 and 1.3460 Swiss francs.
The dollar stood at ¥88.73 (¥88.63) and 1.0590 Swiss francs (1.0536).
The pound was at $1.5250 ($1.5183).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold eased to $1 212.53 an ounce from $1 216 an ounce on Tuesday.
- AFP