国际英语新闻：Euro hit two-month high against U.S. dollar

NEW YORK, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The euro topped 1.29 U.S. dollars for the first time in more than two months on Thursday as investors renewed concerns about the U.S. economic outlook.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said the region's manufacturing activity was expanding in July but at a much slower pace than in June or May. The Empire State's business conditions index fell to 5.08 this month from 19.57 in June.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve lowered its 2010 gross domestic product forecast by 0.2 percentage points to a range of 3. 0 percent to 3.5 percent, suggesting Europe's debt and fiscal crisis could undermine expansion of the U.S. economy.

In late trading in New York, the euro was worth 1.2897 dollars, compared with 1.2731 dollars late Wednesday.

The British pound surged to 1.5413 dollars from 1.5253 dollars, while the dollar edged up to 88.46 Japanese yen from 88.28 yen. The dollar also tumbled to 1.0434 Swiss francs from 1.0550 francs, but rose to 1.0380 Canadian dollars from 1.0352 Canadian dollars.