LONDON, Oct 15 (AFP) - The dollar's slide continued Friday as more weaker-than-expected US data were revealed, in turn helping the euro scale heights above 1.25 dollars for the first time since early March.
The single European currency rose to 1.2481 dollars in late European trading from 1.2382 late on Thursday in New York.
The dollar traded at 109.08 yen against 109.63.
"The catalyst for the move has been the stream of weaker data -- especially the more forward-looking numbers which suggest a weaker growth outlook," said Steve Pearson at HBOS.
There was ample evidence Friday that both US manufacturing activity and consumer confidence levels have taken a hit in October.
First, manufacturing activity in the New York area, as measured by the Empire State survey, fell to 17.4 from a revised 27.3 in September. Then, just over an hour later, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index was released to show a slump to 87.5 from 94.2 in September.
Both clearly weighed on the dollar, with some large banks said to have been selling aggressively, driving the day's action.
The euro materialised as the biggest beneficiary, hitting a seven-month high against the dollar. Buoyed by its gains on the dollar, the euro also managed to hit its highest level since late January against the pound, at 0.6931.
Pearson believed the euro would find it hard to rise above the "formidable resistance" at 1.2520 dollar, although it appeared for now that the single currency had been able to break through the range it has been trading in since March.
Separately, even the day's more backward-looking US numbers were not particularly encouraging.
US industrial output for September came in below predictions, rising a meagre 0.1 percent, while data for August was revised down. Notably, manufacturing slipped 0.3 percent.
What good news there was had only a fleeting impact.
Earlier, it was revealed that US retail sales in September rose more than double what was expected, with headline sales jumping by 1.5 percent.
The euro was changing hands at 1.2481 dollars from 1.2382 late on Thursday in New York, 136.16 yen (135.73), 0.6914 pounds (0.6890) and 1.5383 Swiss francs (1.5411).
The dollar stood at 109.08 yen (109.63) and 1.2325 Swiss francs (1.2447).
The pound was at 1.8050 dollars (1.7969), 196.97 yen (197.05) and 2.2243 Swiss francs (2.2367).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of an ounce of gold stood at 420.40 dollars against 415.35 on Thursday afternoon.