ECONOMY: EURO VS. DOLLAR

Reuters: Dollar Tumbles Again to Begin Year

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar continued its downward spiral Monday, hitting yet another low against the euro, helping send gold prices to 14-year highs and pushing Japanese authorities to step in to protect the yen.

Stock markets -- which had their best year in 2003 since 1986, according to at least one calculation -- were mixed. European shares hovered around break even, but Tokyo ended its first session of 2004 up more than one percent.

The new year showed no sign of breathing new life into the U.S. currency, which tumbled last year amid doubts about the United States' ability to fund its current account gap.