NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) - The euro fell to session lows
against the dollar on Wednesday, surrendering gains as U.S.
equities pushed deeper into negative territory and investors
sought safety in U.S. Treasury debt.
With the three major U.S. stock indexes all down more than
2 percent, investors renewed moves to cut holdings of risky
assets and higher-yield currencies in favor of the dollar.
Analysts tied stock woes partly to jitters about worsening
problems in the commercial real estate sector, while data
showing a record slide in consumer prices last month added to
recession fears and expectations of lower U.S. interest rates.
The euro fell to a session low of $1.2564 after earlier
trading as high as $1.2813. It was last at $1.2590, down 0.2
percent on the day.
Traders said extremely thin volume was exaggerating the
price swings to some extent and that some investors had opted
to move to the sidelines until the scope of a global recession
becomes clearer.
"The truth is we're seeing very poor liquidity and my sense
is that a lot of people have taken their toys and gone home,"
said Firas Askari, head of currency trading at BMO Capital
Markets in Toronto.
(Reporting by Steven C. Johnson; Editing by James Dalgleish)