The euro fell 0.26% to 0.9903 dollars on Monday around 0600 GMT, after falling to 0.9883 dollars, its lowest since December 2002. Since the start of the year, the European currency has lost 13% against the dollar.

“The euro fell below $0.99 for the first time in twenty years after Russia shut down the indefinite Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to Europe as the G7 agreed to impose a price cap on Russian gas exports," said Interactive Investor analyst Victoria Scholar.

The European currency "will probably fall even more", predicts Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets.

The G7 countries targeted Russia's energy windfall on Friday by agreeing to cap the price of its oil, prompting a reaction from Moscow that shook Europeans by announcing that the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, vital for energy supplies in Europe, would be completely shut down until a turbine was repaired.

The shutdown is considered, from a technical point of view, unjustified by the turbine manufacturer Siemens Energy.

After having come close to its historic record of 345 euros per megawatt hour on August 26, established in March at the start of the war in Ukraine, the price of European natural gas had fallen by more than a third in one week last week.

It resumes trading on Monday.

In addition, European stock markets were expected to fall sharply at the opening, notes Ms. Scholar, because of the economic uncertainties generated by tensions over energy supply.

These longer-term prospects, with rising energy prices undermining consumer budgets and threatening European economies with recession, are contributing to the weakening of the euro.

Conversely, the dollar continues to strengthen, benefiting from its safe haven status.

The British pound for its part also faltered, the United Kingdom being particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in the price of gas, an energy on which the country largely depends.

The British currency fell 0.12% to 1.1479 dollars around 08:00 GMT, to new lows since the March 2020 containment and the shock of the start of the pandemic.

The country awaits the announcement on Monday of who will succeed Boris Johnson in Downing Street, in the midst of the cost of living crisis in the United Kingdom, where soaring energy prices threaten to plunge two thirds of British households in precariousness.

The favourite, the very Thatcherite Liz Truss, has so far refused to promise direct aid to households, calling it "band-aids", but press reports seem to indicate that she would now be in favor of a freeze on energy price caps.

© 2022 AFP