The euro has fallen to a new low against the dollar, driven lower by the latest economic figures which emphasise the strength of the US economy compared to most in the euro zone. The currency slipped to $1.055 at its worst.

The US Commerce Department said gross domestic product expanded at an annualised rate of 4.5 per cent in the first three months of 1999, outpacing Wall Street's 3.3 per cent forecast. The frenetic pace, though down from 6 per cent in the last three months of 1998, completed the eighth full year of expansion for the US economy, the longest period of sustained peacetime growth this century.