Investing.com - The euro was at 12-year lows against the broadly stronger dollar on Monday as diverging monetary policies in the U.S. and the euro zone continued to weigh.
EUR/USD was at 1.0512, close to Friday’s low of 1.0471, the weakest since January 9, 2003.
The single currency fell sharply after the European Central Bank started asset purchases under its trillion-euro quantitative easing program early last week, pushing euro area bond yields to new lows.
Lower bond yields make the single currency less attractive to investors at a time when expectations are building that the Federal Reserve could start rising interest rates mid-year.
Market participants were looking ahead to Wednesday’s Fed statement to see if it would drop its reference to being patient before raising rates and signal that it is ready to hike rates depending on economic data.
Sentiment on the euro was also hit by uncertainty over Greece’s future in the euro zone, after euro area finance ministers rejected proposed economic reforms put forward by Athens in exchange for more loans last week.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last at 100.41 after rising to overnight peaks of 100.71, a level last reached in April 2003.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY was down 0.16% to 121.19, not far from last Tuesday’s eight year highs of 121.40.
EUR/JPY was up 0.2% to 127.64, off Friday’s 20-month lows of 126.91.