By David Gaffen
(Reuters) - The euro was slightly weaker against the yen and dollar as foreign exchange markets reopened globally on Sunday following the attacks in Paris that left more than 100 people dead.
The euro was lately buying $1.0738; it hit a high of $1.0778 after trading opened. The attacks occurred Friday evening, but by that time most forex trading had waned, and the effect was a modest rally in the euro that strategists attributed to the unwind of speculative positions.
The dollar, meanwhile, saw modest gains against the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar; the Aussie fell to $0.7110, down 0.2 percent, and the kiwi dropped 0.3 percent to $0.6524.
"Currencies are slightly weaker from their closing levels on Friday, which is the response you'd expect given that we expect investors to be relatively defensive in terms of risk sentiment early this week," said Raiko Shareef, strategist at BNZ.
"It's been a relatively modest reaction in currency markets, but in the direction that you would expect."
The euro traded at 131.40 against the yen, slightly lower than 131.50 on Friday. The dollar edged lower against the yen, to 122.33 from 122.62 on Friday.