LONDON — The euro jumped against the dollar on Tuesday after the release of encouraging economic data for the eurozone and as Dubai's debt crisis shows signs of easing, traders said.
Gold prices meanwhile soared to a record pinnacle close to 1,200 dollars an ounce with demand for the precious metal boosted by the weak US currency, they added.
In late morning trading here, the European single currency rose to 1.5076 dollars from 1.5005 late in New York on Monday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar climbed to 86.86 yen from 86.28 yen late on Monday.
"There remains some uncertainty around Dubai, which is likely to weigh on risky assets (like the euro) in the near term, but we believe the impact of the Dubai shock is likely to be rather short-lived," Barclays analysts said in a note to clients.
The European single currency on Tuesday won support as data showed manufacturing activity across the eurozone had expanded in November.
The 16-nation euro currency bloc's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector, published by data and research group Markit, rose to 51.2 points in November, up from 50.7 points in October and above an earlier 51.0 estimate.
It was the second month running in which the widely-watched reading has been above the crucial 50.0 boom-or-bust line.
However orders were seen to be reaching a plateau triggering concerns over the recovery's sustainability.
Separate official data meanwhile revealed that unemployment across the 16 nations using the euro has hit its highest level since December 1998.
The seasonally adjusted rate for the eurozone was 9.8 percent in October, with overall numbers on the dole up to 15.567 million people across the economic region -- even though the rate was unchanged from September.
Across the 27-nation EU as a whole, there are now at least 22.51 million people unemployed.
In London on Tuesday, the euro was changing hands at 1.5076 dollars against 1.5005 dollars late on Monday, at 130.96 yen (129.50), 0.9105 pounds (0.9125) and 1.5072 Swiss francs (1.5083).
The dollar stood at 86.86 yen (86.28) and 0.9998 Swiss francs (1.0050).
The pound was at 1.6556 dollars (1.6441).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold surged to 1,195.26 dollars an ounce from 1,175.75 dollars an ounce late on Monday. Earlier Tuesday it reached a record high of 1,199.49 dollars.
