* Euro falls below $1.20, lowest in more than 4 years
* Worries about Hungary's finances weigh on euro
* Dollar falls vs yen after below consensus US jobs data
* Traders cite macro, model accounts as sellers of euros
(Recasts; updates prices)
NEW YORK, June 4 (Reuters) - The euro fell against the U.S.
dollar on Friday to the lowest in more than four years on
concern Europe's debt crisis is expanding and a 2 percent drop
in U.S. stocks.
Investors shunned riskier assets and bought currencies
perceived as safe-havens, such as the yen and Swiss franc, as a
government report showed U.S. non-farm payrolls grew at a
slower-than-expected rate in May.
Analysts said the data disappointed investors looking for a
stronger figure and reinforced the view the U.S. economic
recovery may be slow. For details, see []
Concerns about public finances in Hungary weighed on
sentiment toward the euro as the Hungarian forint fell to a
one-year low against the euro <EURHUF=R>. []
"The euro was already getting hammered on worries about
Hungary and with the non-farm payrolls not living up to
expectations, the risk trade is under assault from every
angle," said Boris Schlossberg, director of currency research
at GFT Forex, in New York.
The euro fell as low as $1.1972, according to EBS trading
platform, and in midafternoon trading in New York was 1.2
percent lower at $1.2010 <EUR=>.
U.S. employers created 431,000 jobs in May, the Labor
Department said, below the 513,000 increase predicted by
analysts polled by Reuters. The jobless rate fell more than
expected to 9.7 percent from 9.9 percent in April.
[]
"It's mainly disappointing," said Vassili Serebriakov,
senior currency strategist at Wells Fargo Bank in New York.
"The pace of the recovery in the jobs sector is not as fast as
some of the optimistic expectations in the market."
The dollar was 1.1 percent lower at 91.58 yen <JPY=>,
after hitting a session low of 91.53 yen, according to Reuters
data.
The yen also rose against the euro and the Australian and
New Zealand dollars.
"The data is clearly risk negative and the purest currency
trades are short commodity currencies versus the Japanese yen,"
said Alan Ruskin, head of currency strategy at RBS Global
Banking & Markets, in Stamford, Connecticut. "But the most
pressing problems are in Europe."
FRENCH PM'S REMARKS
Selling pressure on the single currency started prior to
the U.S. jobs report, with the euro hitting its lowest against
the dollar in more than four years after comments by French
Prime Minister Francois Fillon on exchange rates.
Fillon said he was not concerned by the current level of
the euro to the dollar and that he saw only "good news" in the
parity between the two currencies. Later the remarks were
clarified saying his reference to "parity" was about the
general evolution of the exchange rate between the euro and the
dollar. []
Still, the comments caused the euro to fall steeply also
against the Swiss franc, which traders attributed to an absence
of bids from the Swiss National Bank, which has recently
intervened to keep the franc from appreciating.
Traders cited model and macro accounts, as well as central
banks, as selling the single currency.
A daily close under the 50 percent retracement of the
2000-2008 euro rally at $1.2135 would be seen as a bearish
signal for the euro, technical analysts said.
But hedge fund advisor Medley Global Advisors issued a
report saying China is buying euro-denominated assets in order
to underpin the currency, which may have contributed to a
slight strengthening in the euro against the dollar earlier.
[]
The Australian dollar fell <AUD=> 2.2 percent against its
U.S. counterpart while the New Zealand dollar plunged 2 percent
<NZD=>.
(Reporting by Nick Olivari and Vivianne Rodrigues; Additional
reporting by Steve C. Johnson and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss;
Editing by Kenneth Barry)
