LONDON, July 15: The euro rocketed above parity against the dollar on Monday for first time for more than two years on a groundswell of concern about prospects for the US economy following a string of corporate accounting scandals.

Just over six months after the launch of euro cash across the 12-nation euro zone, the single European currency rose above the symbolic one-to-one level for the first time since February 2000.

The euro rose to 1.0080 dollars from 0.9912 late on Friday, to the sound of clapping in dealing rooms around the London financial district.

“There was a small round of applause,” said ABN Amro currency strategist Rob Hayward, attributing the latest upswing to nervousness about the forthcoming US reporting season in the United States.

Rattled by a slew of accounting scandals at the likes of Enron and WorldCom, investors have been shunning US assets, causing Wall Street to plunge over seven per cent last week. US shares tumbled again at the opening of trading on Monday, partly because of the slide in the value of the US currency. As well as the share slump, the dollar has also been walloped by concerns about a swelling of the US trade and balance of payments and budget deficits, and a rising Japanese trade surplus.—AFP