London - The euro tumbled through the $1.09 level to strike a fresh 11.5-year low Friday as the ECB nears the launch of its massive stimulus package and strong US jobs data raises the possibility of a US rate hike soon.
The single currency sank to $1.0871 -- the lowest since September 2003 -- after strong non-farm payrolls data increased expectations that the US Federal Reserve may move to begin hiking interest rates in the coming months.
But with the ECB to begin its 1.1-trillion-euro quantitative easing stimulus on Monday, eurozone stock markets pushed higher.
Frankfurt's benchmark DAX 30 index of top companies gained 0.33 percent to 11,541.59 points and the CAC 40 index in Paris won 0.10 percent compared with Thursday's close to 4,967.34 points .
On the downside, London's FTSE 100 fell 0.50 percent to 6,926.31 points, having posted a record closing high on Thursday after the ECB announced its bond purchases will begin Monday.
The euro tanked against the dollar after the US Labor Department said Friday that the US economy pumped out a stronger-than-expected 295,000 net new jobs in February.
Analyst Craig Erlam said the good jobs numbers "will only feed into expectations for a rate hike from the Federal Reserve in June."
"The rally in the dollar immediately after the release clearly supports this view...," he added.
Higher interest rates will make the dollar attractive, while the ECB's stimulus programme will flood the economy with euros and weaken its value.
AFP
