Euro hits 4.5-month high against dollar

The euro has risen to a four-and-a-half month high against the U.S. dollar, which is mixed against other major currencies.

Analysts say last week's coordinated currency intervention by the Group of Seven nations to reign in the rising yen, a sense that the worst of Japan's nuclear crisis may be over and hopes for a long-term agreement to support Europe's most indebted countries were bolstering investors' appetite for the euro which rose as high as $1.4203, its strongest level since Nov. 5.

The British pound also rose against the dollar, which slipped against several other major currencies.

But the dollar gained ground against the yen and Swiss franc.