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 In Europe, most euro zone government bond yields fell on the first
day of the European Central Bank's 1 trillion euro bond-buying
program.
European stocks opened lower, following falls in Asia and a drop on
Wall Street on Friday after the U.S. jobs data.
The U.S. economy added 295,000 new jobs in February -- more than
forecast -- and the unemployment rate fell to a more than 6 1/2-year
low of 5.5 percent from 5.7 percent in January.
This raised expectations the Fed would at its March meeting drop a
reference to "patience" on the timing of a rate hike, opening the
door for a rate rise in June.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was last down 0.8 percent,
also hit by a 2.1 percent drop in German exports in January, the
biggest fall in five months.
Tokyo's Nikkei stocks index closed 1 percent lower while MSCI's main
index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.2 percent.
On Friday the S&P 500 index fell 1.4 percent and posted its second
consecutive weekly loss.
The dollar dipped 0.2 percent against a basket of currencies, having
hit a fresh 11 1/2-year high in Asian trade after the U.S. jobs data
lifted Treasury bond yields on Friday.
"The dollar has traveled a long way in a pretty short time. U.S.
yields have risen but they need another catalyst to move further
higher. So until then, we could see some consolidation," said Jeremy
Stretch, head of currency strategy at CIBC World Markets in London.
The euro hit its lowest against the U.S. currency since September
2003 at $1.0822 before edging up to $1.0885. The euro has been
pressured by the divergent monetary policies of the Fed and the ECB.
The dollar was flat at 120.85 yen, having hit a three-month high of
121.29.
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German 10-year government bond yields, the euro zone benchmark, fell
5.6 basis points to 0.35 percent in anticipation of ECB buying.
Greek yields, however, rose slightly before a meeting of euro zone
finance ministers later in the day on reforms proposed by Greece,
which is seeking more funds from its international creditors.
Eurogroup leader and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said
on Sunday the list was "far from complete".
GOLD, OIL
Brent crude oil fell to $59.60 a barrel as the impact of the strong
dollar outweighed the threat of output cuts in Libya and Iraq, while
gold edged higher to $1,172.60 an ounce, still close to a
three-month low.
"The U.S. dollar is continuing to strengthen. In the short-term it's
more about the dollar than anything else," said Ben LeBrun, market
analyst at Sydney's OptionsXpress.
(Additional reporting by Hideyuki Sano and Vidya Ranganathan in
Tokyo, Blaise Robinson in Paris, Anirban Nag in London; Editing by
Catherine Evans)
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