Credit: Investing.com -
Investing.com -- The euro weakened slightly against the U.S. Dollar on Monday, following mixed economic data and continuing instability in Greece.
EUR/USD closed down 0.0001 or 0.01% to 1.1182, trading in a range in between 1.1182 and 1.1186.
There was little movement with the pair, ahead of a two-day meeting of European Central Bank policymakers on Wednesday in Cyprus. The FTSEurofirst 300 fell 0.2%, pushed downward by losses the Athens Stock Exchange General Index, which dropped 2.45% or 21.53 to 858.95.
European markets inched lower, as Spanish finance minister Luis de Guindos told Bloomberg on Monday that the EU and Greece officials are currently working on a third bailout that could amount to a total between €30 and €50 billion. Meanwhile, yields on Spanish, Italian and Portuguese bonds reached record-lows in anticipation of the start of the euro zone's quantitative easing or bond buying program later this month.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six other major currencies, rose to its highest level on Monday in more than 11 years. The index edged up 0.2% in afternoon trading to close at 95.478. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also reached a record-high, gaining 0.86% or 155.93 to 18,288.63.
The release of disappointing economic data in the United States prevented any further gains against the euro. The Institute of Supply Management's Index of National Factory Activity fell to 52.9 for the month of February from a reading of 53.5 a month earlier. It marked the lowest level of U.S. manufacturing growth since January, 2014.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
