The euro just fell more than half a cent in the past hour—a dramatic drop in a generally slow-moving trade.

It has even dropped below that $1.30 mark we've been following recently. That price has been an indicator not only for the strength of the currency, but even as a reflection of the stability of the monetary union.

This dip follows a relatively positive Italian bond auction this morning, after action by the European Central Bank last week eased pressure on sovereign borrowing for the Italian and Spanish governments.

We'll have updates as the story develops.

FinViz.com

UPDATE: A look at the British pound sterling against the dollar shows an even more dramatic drop. The pound is down over a full cent on the dollar in just the last hour.

Check it out:

FinViz.com

UPDATE II: We've heard a few different possible reasons for the steep fall in the price of the euro, though we're still not convinced that any one of these developments is having this significant an effect on the price of the euro:



UPDATE III (1:15 PM): We're still hearing lots of market chatter about the euro's dive this morning, which has continued since. The development has highlighted a trend towards risk aversion that has not stalled.

The euro has settled around $1.2935 in trading right now.

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