Euro hits 15-month high vs dollar

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The euro hit a 15-month high against the dollar on Thursday amid concerns over the slowing pace of a U.S. economic recovery.

The euro rose as high as 93.93 cents, up nearly half a cent from late New York trading on Wednesday, and was trading at 93.64 cents at 10:15 am (9:15 GMT) in London.

"We are breaking some very important levels," Michael Lewis, a currency analyst at Deutsche Bank, told CNN.

The dollar came pressure against a host of other currencies. It fell to its lowest level against the Swiss franc since January 2000 and was trading just above a 5-1/2 month low against the yen that it hit last week after the Bank of Japan intervened to weaken the currency.

"One reason for the weaker dollar is that U.S. asset markets are not performing too well -- especially stocks. As a result of this, investors are giving U.S. markets and the dollar a wide berth," economists at Bear Stearns wrote in a note to investors.

The euro was also boosted by data from the eurozone that showed more money was being funneled into the 12-nation monetary community.

"Yesterday's data from the eurozone on the March current account showed that there was a net portfolio and direct investment inflow of 2.2 billion [euros] in the month. It is the first inflow in four and we think that there is more of this to come, pushing the euro to parity this year," Bear Stearns.

Deutsche Bank's Lewis said the investment trend over the past two years has moved away from the U.S.

"There was almost a wall of money going into the U.S. as the markets went up," he said. But the 5.6 percent growth in the economy in the last quarter "is the best that we can expect" and investors are looking to countries with better growth potential. "Japan is the obvious one, and Europe, for sure, to a certain extent."

Lewis said the next important level for the euro is 96 cents, but added: "This is not a dollar crisis... The dollar is still massively overvalued."