Publications
Partners
London - The euro struck an 11-year low versus the dollar on Monday after anti-austerity party Syriza won Greece's elections, sparking fears that the country could end up exiting the eurozone.
In Asian deals, the European single currency dived to $1.1098 - the lowest level since September 2003. It later recovered in morning London trade to $1.1231, up from $1.1208 late in New York on Friday.
European stocks mostly rose as investors assessed the outcome of the Greek vote against bright German economic data, and continued to react to last week's European Central Bank (ECB) quantitative easing (QE) stimulus plans.
Greece awoke Monday to a new era of defiant anti-austerity after voters handed a decisive victory to radical left party Syriza, putting the country on a collision course with the EU and international creditors over its bailout.
New dawn
"A new political dawn descended over Greece as Syriza swept to victory, forming a coalition with the help of the Independent Greeks party to fully secure an anti-bailout government," said Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex trading group.
"However, the reaction from the markets was not as disastrous as it could have been.
"It appears that the strength of the QE... last week, and the lack of surprise at the Syriza victory, has allowed the eurozone indices to tentatively continue the rally that began last week."
Stock mixed
Frankfurt's DAX 30 index of leading shares rose 0.59% to 10 710.00 points, aided by the Ifo institute's closely watched business climate index, which rose to 106.7 in January month from 105.5 points in December.
That was the third monthly rise in a row and was slightly higher than analysts' expectations.
Elsewhere, the CAC 40 index in Paris won 0.16% to 4 648.00 points, while Madrid and Milan stocks gained 0.40% and 0.04% respectively.
On the downside, London's FTSE 100 fell 0.36% to 6 808.30 points compared with Friday's close, weighed down by the Greek news.
Athens stocks dived about 1.5%, having shed 3.8% in opening deals.
Hard campaigning
"The fact that Greece has voted against austerity is of little surprise, and European equity markets have managed to hold their own," noted analyst Alastair McCaig at traders IG.
Syriza and its 40-year-old leader Alexis Tsipras won 149 seats in the 300-seat Greek parliament, just two short of an absolute majority, with most of the votes counted.
Syriza campaigned hard on renegotiating the European Union-International Monetary Fund bailout that imposed strict spending and taxation rules on Athens.
The possibility of Greece defaulting on its debt repayments is likely to spark renewed fears the country could be forced to leave the eurozone.
"Syriza's campaign, based on abandoning Greece's budget constraints and negotiating a write-down of Greek debt, enhances the chances of an exit from the eurozone unless a compromise is reached," said analyst Amir Khan at dealer firm CurrenciesDirect.
"The US dollar continues to remain the strongest currency in the wake of economic and political tensions elsewhere."
The single currency had also hit 11-year dollar lows last week after the ECB launched radical €1.14trn bond-buying plans to stimulate growth and combat deflation.
However, the stimulus fired global stock markets higher late last week.
Asian equities, which surged Friday, experienced mixed fortunes on Monday.
Tokyo fell 0.25% and Seoul ended the session slightly lower, while Shanghai rallied 0.94% and Hong Kong added 0.24%. Sydney was closed for a public holiday.
