The dollar flexed its muscles against other leading currencies this morning as US-led forces moved into the outskirts of Baghdad.
The US currency's gains came as US-led forces closed in on Baghdad, poised outside the airport as the war to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein entered its third week.
With Iraq still grabbing the headlines, the European Central Bank's monthly interest rate meeting has drawn little interest - with analysts expecting no change in euro zone monetary policy.
The gathering in Rome, one of two a year held at a venue other than the central bank's Frankfurt headquarters, comes just one month after the ECB trimmed its key rate by a quarter of a percentage point.
Official figures showing that unemployment in Germany rose by 52,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis - a bigger increase than analysts had expected - to 4.414 million also lent a negative tone to the euro.
AFP