Investing.com - The dollar slipped moderately lower against the other major currencies on Monday, as fears sparked by anti-austerity Syriza party's victory in Sunday's Greek elections continued to subside in relatively quiet trade.
EUR/USD gained 0.49% to 1.1259, recovering from overnight lows of 1.1099, the weakest since September 2003.
The euro stabilized as markets shrugged off concerns over Syriza’s pledge to renegotiate the terms of Greece's €240 billion international bailout and reverse many of the austerity measures imposed by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
Market sentiment continued to be underpinned after the European Central Bank unveiled a €1.2 trillion asset purchase program last week, aimed at combatting slowing growth and inflation in the euro area.
Data earlier showed that German business confidence improved to the highest level in six months in January, easing concerns over the health of the euro zone's largest economy.
The German research institute, Ifo said its Business Climate Index rose to 106.7 this month, above forecasts for 106.3 and up from a reading of 105.5 in December.
The euro was also higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with EUR/JPY advancing 1.02% to 133.34 and EUR/CHF up 2.66% to 1.0092.
Meanwhile, the dollar gained against the yen, with USD/JPY rising 0.53% to 118.43.
Earlier Monday, official figures showed that Japanese exports rose 12.9% in December from a year earlier, the largest gain in a year, fuelling optimism over the economic recovery.
At the same time, the minutes of the Bank of Japan’s December meeting indicated that policymakers are not in a hurry to step up stimulus measures, despite the threat to the inflation outlook from the recent sharp drop in oil prices.
Elsewhere, USD/CHF jumped 1.89% to trade at 0.8964, while GBP/USD climbed 0.36% to 1.5047.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were mixed, with AUD/USD up 0.10% to 0.7916 and NZD/USD down 0.41% to 0.7417. The Canadian dollar was still trading near six-year lows, with USD/CAD at 1.2433.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.16% at 95.16, not far from Friday’s more than 11-year highs of 95.77.