The dollar struck a six-month high point against the euro today shortly after the United States had published stronger-than-expected sales data for April.
US retail sales jumped 1.4 % in April, reinforcing hopes that the economy is doing better than first thought and beating market expectations of an April increase of just 0.7% .
In the wake of the news, the euro slumped to $1.27 - the lowest level since November 3, 2004. The euro stood at $1.2759 at 1225 GMT, sliding to 1.2700 moments after the sales data was released, before firming to 1.2721 dollars.
The Commerce Department also said that excluding auto sales, retail sales went up 1.1% compared to forecasts for a rise of 0.5%.
The euro had slid to $1.2741 earlier today in the wake of better-than-expected US trade deficit figures published yesterday which showed the deficit had narrowed 9.6%.
