The euro fell back close to a record low versus the Swiss franc and hovered near chart support versus the Australian dollar on Monday, hurt by renewed jitters over the eurozone's debt crisis ahead of an emergency meeting of European officials. The euro fell following news over the weekend that European Council President Herman Van Rompuy had called an emergency meeting of top officials dealing with the eurozone debt crisis for Monday morning, reflecting concern that the crisis could spread to Italy.
A Financial Times report saying some EU leaders were considering allowing a selective default by Athens, to put its debt on a more sustainable footing, also dented the single currency, traders said. Such news added to the euro's woes, which took a hit on Friday when Italian bond yields soared to euro lifetime highs, raising fears that Italy, with the highest sovereign debt ratio relative to its economy in the eurozone after Greece, could be next to suffer in the crisis.
The euro slid 0.6 percent to $1.4182 and fell 0.4 percent against the Swiss franc to 1.1890, nearing a record low of 1.1808 hit in late June on trading platform EBS. Against the dollar, one support for the euro lies near $1.4155, trendline support drawn off the euro's May trough just below $1.40 and its June 27 low near $1.41.
The euro was testing support on the crosses, with euro/Aussie easing 0.1 percent to 1.3240, near support at 1.3220, a trough hit on May 11 and again on Friday. A drop below there would take euro/Aussie down to a six-month low. The dollar stood at 80.76 yen, up 0.2 percent from late US trade on Friday, supported by bids from Japanese importers, but remained below Friday's five-week high around 81.50 yen.