Skepticism about the latest U.S. Federal Reserve Bank plan to restore calm to jittery global credit markets dropped the dollar to new lows, with the euro pushing past $1.55 for the first time ever Wednesday.The Fed on Tuesday announced a rescue package that would pour as much as $200 billion into banks and investment houses, in concert with help from the European Central Bank along with central banks in Britain, Switzerland and Canada. Concerns the Fed action may be outweighed by U.S. economic difficulties gained strength in trading Wednesday, halting a euro slide and pushing it instead to a record high of $1.5503, surpassing its previous record of $1.5495 set Tuesday.

The 15-nation euro fell back to $1.5490 — still above the $1.5319 it bought in New York late Tuesday.



"The positive dollar impact of yesterday's coordinated central bank operations is already proving unsustainable as the U.S. currency falls across the board," said Ashraf Laidi, the chief foreign exchange strategist for CMC Markets in New York.

Traders were also weighing a report from Zawya Dow Jones that said the United Arab Emirates was deciding whether to continue pegging its currency to the plummeting U.S. dollar.

"We're under study with the Gulf and we'll see what's the solution," Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, told Zawya Dow Jones in Dubai Tuesday. "It is difficult to know where you are going to move."

In January, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamed bin Jassem Al Thani said his country was also reconsidering its link to the dollar.

The British pound rose to $2.0218 from $2.0029 even after British Treasury Chief Alistair Darling cut forecasts for domestic growth as he delivered his first annual budget against the backdrop of the worst global economic conditions for a decade.

Largely hemmed in by the global credit crunch and high levels of government debt that left little room for maneuver, Darling did provide some good news for motorists with the delay of a planned rise in the fuel tax.

"This is a responsible budget to secure Britain's stability in the face of global uncertainty," Darling told lawmakers as he presented the annual spending plan to Parliament.

The dollar dropped to 102.47 Japanese yen from 104.17 yen.