The euro fell as much as 1.8 percent against the U.S. dollar, to $1.257 from $1.280 — its lowest point since Nov. 21, 2008 — on Feb. 17 as Western European banks' exposure to emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe has panicked investors and prompted them to seek shelter in the U.S. dollar. Overnight — between Feb. 16 and 17 — Moody's Investors Service named Belgian KBC (whose stock is down almost 13 percent in Feb. 17 trading), French Societe Generale (down 9.6 percent), Italian UniCredit (down 7.0 percent), Austrian Raiffeisen (down 13.5 percent) and Austrian Erste Bank (down 18.1 percent) as the most exposed to the emerging market region, causing investors to dump bank stocks and revisit their euro-denominated investments.