(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The euro dived against the dollar yesterday and Europe's main stock markets closed mostly lower as the European Central Bank kicked off its massive bond-buying programme.
Sentiment was also weighed down by concerns over Greece, as Europgroup chief Jeroen Dijsselboem warned Athens to "stop wasting time" and make concrete progress if it wants a further extension to its financial lifeline.
During Asian trading hours, the euro sank to $1.0823, last seen in September 2003, having hit a similar low on Friday as upbeat US payroll data boosted expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike.
In late afternoon London deals, the euro was essentially flat at $1.0849, compared with $1.0842 late in New York on Friday.
The Frankfurt-based ECB announced yesterday that it and the national central banks of the euro area have started buying ‚¬60bn worth of bonds per month in the long-awaited purchase programme, known as quantitative easing, aimed at warding off deflation and stimulating growth across the eurozone.
Details about the size and makeup of the purchases yesterday were not immediately available but will be published at a later date. Under the scheme, the national central banks will do most of the buying, accounting for 92% of the purchases, while the ECB itself will account for 8%.
European stocks mostly slumped yesterday as investors held off while Greece presented its reform plans to its eurozone partners in Brussels in order to secure a further financial lifeline.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of leading companies dropped 0.51% to 6,876.47 points, while in Paris the CAC 40 index lost 0.55% to 4,937.20 points.
On the upside Frankfurt's DAX 30 rose 0.27% to finish at a new record close of 11,582.11 points.
US stocks were higher after General Motors jumped on a share buyback and Apple rose ahead of the expected launch of its Apple Watch.
Around midday in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17,988.46, up 0.74%.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.30% to 2,077.54, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.04% to 4,929.27.
In company news, Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) shares slid 0.80% to 80.78 pence in afternoon deals, after the British government sold another 1.0% in the state-rescued lender for £500mn ($754mn, ‚¬694mn), matching last month's sale.
The Treasury said in a statement that the move has trimmed its stake from 24% to just under 23%, under plans to return LBG to private hands.
Britain still owns a large chunk of Lloyds after bailing it out with £20bn of taxpayers' cash at the height of the 2008 global financial crisis.
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