Investing.com - The dollar eased back from eleven-and-a-half year highs against a basket of other major currencies on Monday as investors took profits in the wake of a rally triggered by Friday’s robust jobs report.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, slid 0.27% to 97.48, off Friday’s highs of 97.84, the strongest since September 2003.
Friday’s stronger-than-expected U.S. employment report solidified expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates around the middle of this year, boosting the dollar.
EUR/USD was last up 0.30% to 1.0872, recovering from overnight lows of 1.0823.
The euro’s gains looked likely to be held in check as the eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers prepared to hold talks in Brussels later in the day to discuss proposed Greek economic reforms.
Last month Athens reached a temporary agreement with its lenders to extend its bailout by four months, but must complete a bailout review before it can access further financial aid.
Also Monday, the European Central Bank confirmed that it started asset purchases under its quantitative easing program.
The dollar was steady against the yen, with USD/JPY at 120.91, holding below Friday’s three-month highs of 121.27, while USD/CHF slid 0.19% to 0.9834.
Sterling gained ground, with GBP/USD rising 0.53% to 1.5116.
AUD/USD was steady at 0.7722, while NZD/USD was last up 0.19% to 0.7375. The commodity exposed currencies found some support after data on Sunday showed that Chinese exports picked up in the first two months of this year.
Separately, USD/CAD was down 0.37% to 1.2575.