By Vivianne Rodrigues
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar tumbled to a record low against the euro on Thursday and hit parity with Canada's currency for the first time since 1976 as investors braced for further Federal Reserve interest rate cuts after this week's sharp reduction.
The sell-off started in Europe and continued in New York as investors and analysts concluded lower benchmark rates in the world's largest economy will diminish returns on dollar-denominated assets, denting the greenback's appeal.
That view also weighed on other U.S. assets as Treasury debt prices fell and the three main U.S. stock indexes slipped.
The dollar breached the key $1.40-per-euro level, stopping just shy of $1.41 around noon in New York before retracing some of its gains. The euro zone single currency also rose above 70 pence against sterling for the first time in one and a half years.
The Canadian dollar briefly reached parity with the U.S. dollar for the first time in 31 years, supported by lofty commodity prices, a strong domestic economy and concerns about a U.S. economic slowdown. The dollar fell 1.4 percent against the Canadian dollar and last traded around C$1.0009.
The Fed on Tuesday slashed rates by half a percentage point to 4.75 percent -- the first cut in four years -- to shield the U.S. economy from a deepening housing slump and credit market turbulence.
"People are convinced the Fed will have to cut by more than 50 basis points," said Matthew Strauss, senior foreign exchange strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto. The dollar's sell-off "is a continuation of selling seen after the Fed's rate cut, and with the dollar index closing in on all-time lows, people are looking for reasons to target that level."
In late afternoon trading in New York, the euro had risen to a record high of $1.4099 before surrendering some gains to trade up 0.7 percent on the day at $1.4071. The dollar was down 1.5 percent against the yen to trade at 114.30 per dollar , on track for its biggest one-day percentage decline in two weeks. Continued...
El euro rozó el pico de US$ 1,41 luego de verse éste último debilitado tras una decisión de la Fed (Sistema de Reserva Federal) de una fuerte reducción de las tasas de interés estadounidenses.

La Fed había reducido en un 0,50% la tasa directriz americana.



El euro, introducido por primera vez en 1999, llegó a un valor de 1,4098 dólares, alcanzando su nueva marca histórica. La moneda además aumentó en 70 centavos con respecto a la libra esterlina por primera vez en un año y medio.

El euro había llegado a los 1,4098 dólares, aunque perdió algunas ganancias luego de llegar a los $1.4071.

Otra moneda que aumentó respecto al dólar fue el dólar canadiense rozando paridad al llegar a los C$1.0009. El dólar también llegó a una baja mayor de dos años y medio frente al franco suizo y fluctuó en 1.1711, un 1% menos que el miércoles.

=== Bernanke declara ===

El Presidente de la Fed, Ben Bernanke, junto con el Secretario del Tesoro, Henry Paulson, declararon frente al Congreso en referencia a la crisis crédita en Estados Unidos.

"Las turbulencias tuvieron como origen las inquietudes en los créditos hipotecarios de riesgo ("subprime"), pero las pérdidas resultantes en los mercados financieros mundiales sobrepasaron las estimaciones más pesimistas de pérdidas posibles por estos préstamos", declaró Bernanke.