Euro rises against dollar despite weak German data

The euro climbed against the dollar on Tuesday as investors shrugged off news of slumping German investor confidence and looked ahead to a key speech by US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Gold scored a fresh record high as it shot above $1,900 an ounce for the first time, with traders snapping up the safe-haven precious metal on concerns over high debt levels in the eurozone and United States.
In London, the euro rose to $1.4452, from $1.4356 late in New York on Monday. The dollar eased to 76.63 yen from 76.78 yen after striking a record low at 75.95 yen last Friday.
German investor confidence slumped in August for a sixth month running to levels last seen in late 2008 on worries about the eurozone debt crisis and weak prospects for economic growth, the ZEW indicator showed on Tuesday.
The closely watched ZEW economic expectations index fell a whopping 22.5 points to stand at minus 37.6 points, far below the indicator's historical average of 26.2 points. In July, it had slipped by just 6.1 points.
The drop to a level last seen in December 2008 was worse than expected, with economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires predicting on average a fall to minus 26 points.