Early trade in New York: Dollar rallies to new high

The dollar climbed to fresh highs on Wednesday, getting lift from solid US jobs and business data, as the euro sank below $1.11 to an 11-1/2 year low ahead of the launch of quantitative easing by the European Central Bank. The dollar, bolstered by recent rises in US government bond yields, hit its highest since September 2003 against a basket of currencies and was last up 0.60 percent at 95.957. Earlier it struck a high of 96.041 in trading after economic data releases.
The ADP National Employment Report showed a gain of 212,000 private-sector jobs. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP to show a gain of 220,000 jobs. The euro last stood at $1.1072, off 0.90 percent for the day and below a key support level, Sutton said. It fell to as little as $1.1066, which was the lowest level for the euro against the dollar since September 2003, according to Thomson Reuters data. The euro also declined to one-month lows against the Japanese yen, which was flat against the dollar at 119.72 yen to the dollar.