Midday trade: Euro sinks to 18-month low

The euro tumbled to its lowest level in more than 18 months against the US dollar on Friday on heightened fears a sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone will worsen and choke a fragile recovery. The euro accelerated its decline to trade below $1.24 as US stocks sank and European Central Bank policymaker Axel Weber said dangers still lurk in the financial system and should not be underestimated.
In midday trading, the euro was down 1.1 percent at $1.2393. It had earlier fallen as low as $1.2358 on electronic trading platform EBS, the lowest since October 2008. The single eurozone currency also lost 1.9 percent to 113.85 yen, while it held steady at 1.4010 Swiss francs, near Thursday's all-time low, with investors wary of potential Swiss National Bank intervention.