NEW YORK (Reuters) - The euro fell below $ 1.19 on Monday for the first time in more than four years, but recovered some ground after a figure for the German manufacturing sector led investors take profits recent decline of the currency.Demand for European corporations helped the euro to recover after falling to $ 1.1876, its weakest level since March 2006.
However, the currency was still below the $ 1.20 mark, a level perforated on Friday after Hungary made a stern warning about the state of their finances.
"After the warning of Hungary and data weaker than expected U.S. employment on Friday, sales of euro became a bit exaggerated," said Amelia Bourdeau, strategist at UBS in Stamford, Connecticut.
"Things were exaggerated last week, but not much on the horizon to be positive for the euro," he added.
Figures released on Friday showed that speculators cut their net short positions slightly on the euro in the week ended June 1, yet still positioned strongly against the single currency, which so far this year has lost about 17 percent against the dollar.
In half-day operations in New York, the euro was down 0.1 percent at $ 1.1961. On Friday, the currency fell 1.5 percent after a report worse than expected for the job market in the United States suggested that the overall recovery may be losing strength, reducing the attractiveness of risky assets.
Against the yen, the euro was virtually unchanged at 110.03 points, while the dollar rose 0.1 percent to 91.99 yen. Earlier, the euro hit a record 1.3850 Swiss franc, falling 0.4 percent.
The pound sterling was up 0.2 percent against the dollar at $ 1.4490 while the euro fell to a minimum of 18 months of 82.12 pence, after traders said that investors were leaving to buy German bonds notes of the British debt because of fears related to the euro zone.
A better-than expected in manufacturing orders in Germany and a reasonable demand for a bond issue in Belgium supported the euro on Monday, according to market participants.
But fears about the fiscal problems have not disappeared. Hungary-EU member, but not in the euro area "shook the markets on Friday when the new government ombudsmen said that the country could face a crisis similar to that of Greece.
That revived fears about the exposure of European banks to the countries of the region with high levels of debt.
Although the problems of Hungary are not considered as severe as those of Greece, some analysts say this could be more vulnerable to the crisis and that does not belong to the euro area and does not use currency.
(Additional reporting by Naomi Tajitsu in London)
