LONDON (AFX) - The euro was slightly lower in early trade after weekend criticism by G7 political leaders of the European Central Bank's refusal to cut interest rates in response to the global downturn, dealers said.
Dealers said the scepticism about the ECB's monetary stance expressed by G7 politicians, including French finance minister Laurent Fabius, had had little effect on the single European currency.
They noted that ECB president Wim Duisenberg wrongly claimed that the final communique at the G7 gathering in Washington would effectively endorse the ECB's reluctance to lower rates.
"We've had Duisenberg making an idiot of himself at the weekend, when according to The Daily Mail he was quoting a draft version of the communique," 4Cast currency strategist Chris Furness said.
"Apparently that paragraph was in there first but then they changed their minds so he made a fool of himself," he said.
"The first thing most European traders did this morning was to sell a few eu ros to see what would happen. And the answer is -- not a lot," he said.
In the UK, dealers said the market had absorbed Friday's surprisingly weak gross domestic product figures and was counting on a rate cut next week at the Bank of England's monetary policy committee. Dealers said the day's trading would be quiet, with holidays in the Netherlands, Japan and Hong Kong.
They said the main focal point in the U.S. would be the Chicago purchasing managing index which could be interesting, given Friday's better-than-expected gross domestic product figures suggesting a U.S. recovery was under way.