Investing.com - The U.S. dollar touched fresh eleven-and-a-half year highs against the euro on Monday as Friday’s strong U.S. jobs report solidified expectations for higher interest rates.
EUR/USD touched lows of 1.0823, the lowest since September 2003 and was last at 1.0842.
The dollar rallied on Friday after official figures showed that the U.S. economy added 295,000 jobs in February, far more than the 240,000 forecast by economists. The unemployment rate ticked down to 5.5% from 5.7% in January, the lowest since May 2008.
The robust jobs report fuelled expectations that the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates around the middle of this year.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 11-year highs of 97.71 on Monday.
In the euro zone, the euro group of finance ministers was 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.
The euro edged higher against the yen, with EUR/JPY easing up 0.08% to 131.06, off the one-and-a-half month lows of 130.69 struck overnight.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY was last at 120.89, not far from Friday’s three-month highs of 121.27.