The euro rose to within a quarter cent of record highs against the dollar in thin trading on Thursday, with moves dictated by technical trading levels in the run-up to Christmas.
The euro was resuming its uptrend on a break of key resistance levels, analysts said, against a backdrop of worries about the United States' ability to attract flows to cover its huge current account gap.
A holiday in Japan further dampened trade, although sterling trimmed losses against the dollar after taking a tumble this week on signs that British interest rates could be headed lower.
"There has been a general dollar weakening which has taken the euro above some near-term resistance levels at $1.3420/1.3440," said Ian Stannard, currency strategist at BNP Paribas.
"We could test the record highs at $1.3470, although it is not clear we have the momentum to do so in this trading environment."
The euro rose swiftly from levels around $1.3390 it had held since Wednesday to hit $1.3453 by 3:20 a.m. EST, compared with record highs of $1.3470 hit on December 7. It was up half a percent from late New York levels.
The yen crawled to the firmer side of 104 per dollar, gaining just under a quarter of a percent from New York levels.
Sterling bought $1.9211 compared with $1.9143 in New York, but hit three-week lows against the euro at 70.13 pence before recovering slightly to around 70 pence.