The euro rose to a fresh 14-month high against the dollar in Asia on Thursday as hawkish comments by Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens and strong Asian shares fueled appetite for riskier currencies. The euro climbed to a high of $1.4961, its highest level since Aug. 13, 2008, compared with its level in late New York hours of around $1.4910. The Australian dollar also hit a 14-month high of $0.9225, up from $0.9137. The RBA governor's remark also prompted players to buy other high-yielding currencies, pushing the dollar broadly lower. The Dollar Index, which gauges the currency's value against six majors including the euro, declined to 75.25, also a fresh 14-month low. At 0450 GMT, it recovered slightly to 75.27. Governor Stevens said early in the Asian morning that the Aussie dollar is being supported by the nation's economic outperformance compared with its global peers. U.S. and European short-term investors took the comment as a cue to take risk and bought higher-yielding currencies, dealers said. "Amid a recent broad trend of dollar weakness, Stevens' remarks made it easy for players to buy riskier currencies," said Keiichi Iguchi, a senior dealer at Resona Bank. Also helping accelerate such buying was the solid performance in Asian share markets, dealers said. After the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the key 10000 mark overnight, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average index rose in the session. It was up 1.51% at 10,212.22 at 0530 GMT. Share markets in Hong Kong and China also gained. Traders said the euro could reach $1.5000 and Y134.00 later in the day if U.S. economic data and earnings reports slated for release later in the global day prove good, lifting U.S. stocks further. The common European currency rose to a three-week high of Y133.91 from Y133.22 in New York late Wednesday. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing index for October is due at 1400 GMT. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expect the index to log in at 12 compared with September's 14.1. The U.S. consumer price index due at 1230 GMT is expected to show a 0.1% rise in September compared with a 0.4% gain in the previous month, they say. As well, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup will release their earnings reports. Elsewhere, the dollar fell slightly versus the yen as Japanese exporters sold the U.S. currency on what was Japan's regular settlement day.

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