Euro pares gains against U.S. dollar after Greece's downgrading

The euro pared gains against the U.S. dollar on Monday after Moody's Investors Service slashed Greece's credit rating to junk status.

The euro rose to a 2-week high at 1.2298 U.S. dollars on Monday after the European Union said that industrial production in the 16 countries that use the euro rose 0.8 percent in April, a bigger increase than economists had expected.

The data eased concerns that government spending cuts aimed at slashing debt will hurt Europe and slow a global recovery.

The euro fell later in the day as a Moody's statement said it was cutting Greece's government bond ratings by four notches to Ba1 from A3, with a stable outlook for the next 12-18 months.

The euro traded to 1.2243 dollars in New York late Monday.

The British pound gained to 1.4771 dollars from 1.4514 dollars late Friday, and the dollar fell to 1.1409 Swiss francs from 1. 1505 francs.

The green back dropped to 1.0302 Canadian dollars from 1.0370 Canadian dollars and rose to 91.52 Japanese yen from 91.60 yen in New York.

Source: Xinhua