Dollar plunges

TOKYO: The dollar languished at three-year lows against a basket of currencies on Monday, while the euro stood tall on investors´ hopes that European Central Bank policymakers could be poised to further trim their monetary stimulus.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, slipped 0.2 percent to 90.807 after falling as far as 90.773 earlier in the session, its lowest since January 2015.The euro added 0.1 percent to $1.2206, in sight of a peak of $1.2218 on Friday, its highest since December 2014, leaving some strategists to ponder where its next top might be.

"I think the strength of the euro is overdone," said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at Mizuho Securities." The strength of the euro itself will delay the ECB´s normalization. The ECB is conducting verbal tightening, so they don´t need to move on interest rates.

"Against the yen, the dollar slipped to its lowest levels since mid-September, as comments from Japan´s central bank governor highlighted Japan´s economic recovery.

While Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated the central bank´s resolve to maintain its massive stimulus programme until 2 percent inflation is achieved stably, he also said the country´s economy was expected to continue moderately expanding.