AFP - The European single currency fell against the dollar on Monday on eurozone debt jitters before a key finance meeting in Brussels and was also hurt by falling industrial production in the bloc.
Traders also speculated over the next head of the European Central Bank (ECB) and outlook for the region's interest rates.
In late morning London deals, the shared eurozone unit fell to $1.3466 from $1.3567 in New York late on Friday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar weakened to 83.34 yen from 83.48 yen on Friday.
"Attention will today focus on the Eurogroup meeting of finance ministers," said Commerzbank analyst Ulrich Leuchtmann.
"There have been signs on the bond markets for some weeks that the yields of the peripheral countries have been rising again and only ECB intervention seems to have been able to prevent a notable rise.
"This illustrates that the seeming calm in the eurozone debt crisis over the past few weeks was nothing but a short breather. Those responsible have still not been able to convince the markets with the bailout programme," he added.
Traders also reacted to news that eurozone industrial output fell for the first time in three months in December, when harsh winter weather hit production in Germany and elsewhere.
Industrial production fell 0.1 percent from November but was 8.0 percent stronger than in December 2009, the European Union's Eurostat agency said Monday.
The December figures were slightly weaker than the market consensus estimate of flat output on the month and an 8.1 percent increase on the year in a Dow Jones Newswires survey of economists.
Also weighing on the euro were questions over who will head the ECB after Jean-Claude Trichet's retirement later this year.
The euro came under pressure late last week from news of the resignation of Germany's central bank chief Axel Weber, confirming he is no longer in pole position to become the next ECB chief.
The German government said on Monday that a new German candidate was possible.
Meanwhile in the run-up to the Brussels meeting, markets were also jarred by speculation over the struggling German regional lender WestLB.
"The euro was vulnerable early in the session on the overhang of (eurozone) peripheral debt concerns which were evident last week and also on elevated uncertainty as to who will take the helm of the ECB in October," said Rabobank analyst Jane Foley.
"This meant that the speculation regarding the rescue of WestLB ... hit (the euro) hard."
In London on Monday, the euro changed hands at $1.3466 against $1.3567 in New York late Friday, at 112.23 yen (113.26), £0.8406 (0.8452) and 1.3097 Swiss francs (1.3144).
The dollar stood at 83.34 yen (83.48) and 0.9725 Swiss francs (0.9688).
The pound was at $1.6017 (1.6053).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold eased to $1,358.52 an ounce from $1,364 late on Friday.
