(RTTNews) - The dollar rallied versus the euro Monday morning, as Greece failed to reach an agreement on a voluntary restructuring of its sovereign debt.
With default looming for Greece, the dollar improved to $1.3050 versus the euro, up a penny from Friday.
The U.S. economy added far more jobs than were expected in the month of January, according to new government statistics released Friday, with the job growth unexpectedly pushing the unemployment rate down to its lowest level in almost 3 years.
The Labor Department report showed that the non-farm payroll employment jumped by 243,000 jobs in January following a revised increase of 203,000 jobs in December. Economists had expected employment to increase by about 140,000 jobs.
Germany's factory orders grew 1.7 percent month-on-month in December, after falling 4.9 percent in November, the Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology said Monday. The growth rate exceeded the 1 percent growth forecast.
Eurozone investor confidence improved for the second consecutive month in February, results of a survey by the think tank Sentix showed Monday.
The confidence index rose sharply to -11.1 from -21.1 in January. Economists were expecting the indicator to climb to -16.5.
Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher is due to speak to the Institute of International Finance in Washington on the "Economic and Monetary Policy Outlook, a Trip Around the World," at 12:15 pm ET. The speech will be followed by a session with the media.
