Markets

Euro falls past Jan 1999 launch levels to 9-year low

Published January 14, 2015 Updated January 14, 2015 12:39pm

1 min

By Shoaib Ur Rehman

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LONDON: The euro fell below the levels at which it was launched in 1999 for the first time in more than nine years on Wednesday, hit by growing expectations that the European Central Bank could announce full-scale government bond purchases next week.

The euro fell 0.4 percent to $1.1728, past option barriers at $1.1750, to its lowest level in nine years and below $1.1747, the level it started trading in Sydney on Jan. 4, 1999, according to Reuters data.

The euro was officially launched on Jan 1, 1999 and began trading on Jan 4. An adviser to Europe's top court said on Wednesday that an earlier, unused, ECB bond-buying programme was legal under some conditions.

That was seen as leaving the door open for the bank to embark on outright money-printing for the first time.

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