WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The euro fell on Monday after exit polls in Greece's general election showed the leftwing Syriza party winning a comfortable victory, raising the risk of a standoff over austerity measures with its European lenders.
The single currency fell versus most major currencies in early Australasian trade, losing nearly half a U.S. cent to around $1.1170 according to Reuters data and closing in on $1.1115 hit late last week, its lowest since September 2003.
Early exit polls showed Syriza could gain 35.5-39.5 percent of the vote, well ahead of the conservative New Democracy party of outgoing Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on 23-27 percent, according a joint exit poll for Greek television stations issued immediately after voting ended on Sunday.