The euro fell to fresh 11-year lows against the dollar on Friday following the European Central Bank's announcement on Thursday that it would pump a trillion euros into the euro zone economy to revive sagging growth and ward off deflation. The euro lost over 2 percent against the greenback and fell below $1.12 to $1.1115 for the first time since September 2003 after the ECB unveiled a bond-buying program.
The euro also hit a 16-month trough against the yen at 130.91 yen on Friday. After a similar tumble on Thursday, the euro was down over 7 percent since the start of the year and on track for its biggest monthly fall since the depths of the financial crisis in early 2009. The euro also set a fresh seven-year low versus sterling of 74.295 pence. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, hit fresh more than 11-year highs and was last up 0.68 percent at 94.717.
The dollar was last down 0.68 percent against the safe-haven yen at 117.7 yen, with analysts citing weakness in US stocks and lingering disappointment that the Bank of Japan held off from expanding its bond-buying program. The Swedish crown tumbled 1.2 percent against the dollar to an almost six-year low of 8.3697 crowns after a Riksbank official said the bank was technically ready to launch its own quantitative easing program if necessary.
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