``Europhoria'' swept the European public and financial markets on Wednesday as traders saluted the largely flawless New Year launch of euro notes and coins in 12 countries by marking the currency sharply higher.
Commuters and shoppers mostly shrugged off the inevitable confusion and queues when more than 300 million Europeans from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle began using their common currency on the first working day of the year.
There were big crushes in German and Dutch banks as customers braved freezing weather to trade in old marks and guilders, even though national currencies can still be used for another two months.
``People are coming in, emptying their wallets onto the table and saying, 'I want euros','' said Oliver Froehlich, euro-transition team leader at the Frankfurter Volksbank.
The euro, traded for three years on paper, surged by 2.5 percent against the British pound, two percent against the yen and 1.7 percent against the dollar in what one banker called a ''relief rally'' after forecasts of chaos proved unfounded.
``A smooth introduction of the unit as physical currency has sparked a bout of europhoria,'' analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York said in a research note to clients.
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