Dollar rebounds against euro

NEW YORK: The dollar rebounded Monday after a steady slide against the euro since January 24, helped by a return of concerns about eurozone progress and an over-strong euro.

After trading at $1.3637 late Friday -- having topped the $1.37 level during the day -- the euro dropped to $1.3503 at 2300 GMT Monday.

The fall paralleled drops in equity and oil markets, all of which had been buoyed by both rising confidence and market momentum last week.

Markets were jolted after Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was pressured to resign amid a growing corruption scandal, while in Italy, the party of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi showed solid gains in polls ahead of national elections later this month.

Also feeding selling was French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici's voicing concerns about the euro's rise.

"The euro is stable, the euro is strong, perhaps too strong in some regards," Moscovici told France 2 television on Sunday.

On Monday he told AFP that while he was not seeking to "launch an offensive" to drive down the euro, "it seems completely legitimate to me that there be a debate on the question of proper global exchange rates in international forums."

"The currency pair was due for a correction," said Kathy Lien, managing director of BK Asset Management.

"The European Central Bank has a monetary policy meeting this week and while their message is not expected to change, it will be difficult for (ECB chief) Mario Draghi to avoid talking about the currency."

The yen meanwhile rebounded after its steady fall driven by pressure to reinflate the Japanese economy from the new prime minister, Shinzo Abe.

The dollar fell to 92.11 yen from 92.80 yen late Friday, and the euro dropped to 124.28 yen from 126.60 yen.

The British pound was at $1.5750, up from $1.5691 late Friday.

The dollar traded at 0.9090 Swiss francs, up from 0.9074 francs.