LONDON (AFX) - The euro hit a 15-month high against the dollar in early trade as dollar sentiment continued to be dragged down by Wall Street's continued woes, dealers said. Euro/dollar climbed up to 0.9395 earlier in the session, its best performance since Feb 2001. "People are concerned about the US equity markets," said Paul Mackel, currency strategist at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. "The ongoing negative sentiment in the equity markets is not helping the dollar." In addition, Mackel said "momentum funds" were also buying euro/dollar even though speculative funds are very long. Hans Redeker, global head of forex strategy at BNP Paribas, said investors are "seeking a vehicle" for selling the dollar. "With commodity currencies having rallied more than 10 pct against the dollar and the Japanese Ministry of Finance/Bank of Japan trying to limit further yen strength, the focus has shifted towards the euro," he said. "Unlike Japanese monetary authorities, the ECB would appreciate its currency rising, as a higher euro contains inflation risks from higher wage increases and energy prices," he added. The dollar rout is likely to continue, said Michael Klawitter, currency strategist at WestLB, who is set to revise his dollar forecast further to the downside on the back of the risks associated with the current account deficit. "Even a better than expected initial jobless claim number today will not provide much support. Elsewhere, sterling was still languishing, raising concerns that the Bank of England may have under-estimated sterling's depreciation. "Sterling's trade weighted index fell yesterday to below the Bank's two year ahead forecast made in the Inflation Report published only two weeks ago," said Deutsche Bank economist Ciaran Barr. "Indeed in breaking through the 104 trade weighted level, the currency now stands at its lowest since March 2001."