NEW YORK, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar advanced versus the euro on Monday as Italy's parliamentary election added uncertainties to Europe's economic outlook.
The euro fell to a six-week low against the dollar during Monday's trading. An early vote count by the Italian interior ministry put in doubt whether the center-left coalition led by Pier Luigi Bersani could form a working government, despite its current lead in the election.
Moreover, the euro was pressured by the European Commission's pessimistic forecast on the euro zone's economic outlook. The region's economy will contract for a second year in 2013 and the European Central Bank may cut interest rates or expand easing measures, says the forecast.
The pound slumped against the dollar after Moody's Investors Service downgraded Britain's government bond ratings by one notch to Aa1 from Aaa with stable outlook last Friday.
Moody's said the move was based on the expectation that continuing weakness in Britain's medium-term growth outlook would extend to the second half of the decade.
Meanwhile, investors were closely watching discussions about a spending cut mechanism which would automatically start from March 1 and negatively affect the U.S. economy.
In late New York trading, the euro slipped to 1.3121 dollars from 1.3179 dollars of the previous session and the British pound dropped to 1.5109 from 1.5241 dollars.
The dollar edged down to 0.9305 Swiss francs from 0.9306 and went up to 1.0263 Canadian dollars from 1.0213. The dollar bought 92.62 Japanese yen, lower than 93.41 in the previous session.
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