The euro tumbled to near a nine-year low on Monday, undercut by growing concerns that Greek parliamentary elections will result in a left-wing government that will aim to cancel austerity measures along with a big portion of Greece's debt. The left-wing Syriza party holds a narrowing lead ahead of Greece's January 25 general election over the conservative New Democracy party, opinion polls show. New Democracy imposed unpopular budget cuts under Greece's bailout deal.
Expectations for monetary policy easing in the euro zone, the opposite of a trend toward tightening policy in the United States, also cast a pall over the euro. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, hit a nine-year high of 91.775 before setting back to 91.507, up 0.47 percent on the day. The euro traded as low as $1.18605 on the EBS trading platform in early Asian trade before steadying at $1.19275, a loss of 0.62 percent.
Against the yen, the euro hit a two-month low of 142.52 yen, down 1.40 percent on the day. The dollar dropped 0.81 percent to 119.50 yen Sterling was down 0.64 percent at $1.5227, having fallen to a 17-month low of $1.5185 in Asian trading. The dollar rose to a more than four-year high of 1.0108 Swiss francs.
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