The euro has recovered slightly this afternoon after earlier sliding to its lowest level against the US dollar since last May.
Traders said the currency had been hit by a lack of detail from EU leaders at their summit yesterday on how they will deal with the financial crisis in Greece.
Figures showing that Germany, which is Europe's biggest economy, failed to record any growth in the final three months of last year also affected the euro.
The currency went as low as $1.3532 this morning, but this afternoon it had moved just above $1.36.
The volatility on currency markets also spilled over into stock markets, with Wall Street falling around 1% and the main European markets down around 0.5%.
The euro gained in value against other currencies for a period yesterday after the Greek deal was announced, but the gains were short-lived.
France recorded better growth of 0.6% in the last three months of last year. That pause in growth followed economic expansion in the six months to the end of September.
Economic growth in the euro zone slowed to 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2009 over the previous quarter, official EU estimates shows today.
Analysts also point to the lack of detail announced yesterday on the timing or nature of any financial aid for Greece which must refinance some €50bn of national debt in the coming months.
That detail should be forthcoming when EU finance ministers meet after the weekend.
Meanwhile, Greece's recession deepened in the fourth quarter of 2009 when the economy shrank by 0.8% compared to 0.3% contraction in the third quarter, official estimates showed today.
Output in the fourth quarter was 2.6% less than in the last quarter of 2008, the data showed, the day after EU leaders promised action to help Greece through a severe debt crisis but were unable to provide details of how.
