The euro rose against the dollar on Tuesday, helped by solid demand at sales of eurozone debt, while expectations that the US Federal Reserve may consider additional monetary easing weighed on the greenback. Irish, Greek and Spanish government debt auctions attracted decent demand, easing concerns about whether the eurozone's highly indebted countries can obtain the funding they need.
In late morning trading in New York, the euro was up 0.5 percent at $1.3129. On Friday the single currency hit its highest since August 11 at $1.3159, according to Reuters data. The dollar index was down 0.4 percent at 81.005. Fear of more intervention by Japanese authorities to curb yen gains limited the greenback's losses. The dollar was last 0.4 percent lower at 85.35 yen, with traders reporting stop loss orders around 85.20 yen.
In other trading, the Australian dollar rose above 95 US cents for the first time since July 30, 2008 after the country's central bank chief suggested Australian interest rates would rise further. It was last little changed at 0.9477 after peaking at 0.9501.