NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The U.S. dollar fell to a fresh four-year low against the euro Wednesday, uninspired by a weak Midwest manufacturing report and a cautiously optimistic economic outlook from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

At around 4:00 p.m. ET, the euro bought $1.1182, up from $1.1067 late Tuesday, while the dollar bought ¥118.90, down from ¥119.93 late Tuesday.

The greenback had initially perked up early Tuesday, following better than expected consumer confidence news, but soon showed exhaustion, turning lower despite the stock market's gains. The disconnect between the dollar and stocks of late is a change from earlier in the year, when the two would often move in synchronization.

"There's a great deal of confusion in the currency market right now, with traders unclear as to why the dollar's seen this huge slide against the euro in the last 12 or 24 hours rather than at a different time," said Sean Callow, a currency strategist at IDEAglobal. "The euro broke through $1.1085 overnight -- the previous multiyear high -- and then just took off from there. Everyone has been caught off guard and now they're scrambling."

Meanwhile, bond prices inched higher after the government announced a record $58 billion in new borrowing and surprised many by shifting to monthly issues of five-year notes.

The total for the refunding, due next week, was in the middle of an unusually wide range of forecasts for around $51 billion-to-$68 billion and was well anticipated.

The benchmark 10-year note climbed 22/32 of a point in price to 100-7/32, pushing the yield down to 3.85 percent from 3.93 percent Tuesday. The 30-year bond jumped 1-5/32 in price to 109-8/32, yielding 4.77 percent from 4.84 percent Tuesday.

The two-year note rose 7/32 of a point in price to 100-8/32, yielding 1.49 percent, while the five-year note added 16/32 of a point in price to 101-3/32, yielding 2.76 percent.

Treasury will issue $22 billion in three-year notes -- returning after a five-year hiatus -- $18 billion in five-year notes and $18 billion of 10-year paper.

However, traders were taken aback by Treasury's shift to monthly five-year auctions and a move to reopen 10-year issues intra-quarterly. That means the market faces monthly auctions of two- and five-year notes along with 10-year reopenings and a refunding every quarter.

"It's an awful lot of auctions," noted Stephen Stanley, senior market economist at RBS Greenwich Capital Markets. "It's surprising they announced this so early, but it had to happen at some point given their borrowing needs."

Treasury needs to borrow a net $79 billion this quarter to plug the yawning gap in government finances from the budget deficit, which looks like it will be extended for some years to come.

Still, the overall market reaction Wednesday was muted, in part as people digested testimony on the U.S. economy from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, and as data from the Midwest manufacturing sector was absorbed.

Some were also troubled by a 4 point pullback in the weekly ABC consumer comfort index to -19, suggesting the afterglow from the Iraq war might be fading already.