Euro falls against dollar, yen in Asia

TOKYO: The euro fell against the dollar and yen in Asia on Monday as risk appetite was dampened by uncertainty over the progress on Greek budget cuts to qualify for a new tranche of rescue cash, dealers said.

The euro bought $1.2944 and 101.03 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, down from $1.2985 and 101.42 yen in New York late Friday.
The dollar was changing hands at 78.02 yen, down slightly from 78.12 yen.
Athens and its international lenders have still not reached agreement on a new round of austerity that will see it given more bailout money, Kengo Suzuki, forex strategist at Mizuho Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
"The risk sentiment-driven rally has begun to lose steam as profit-taking kicks in and uncertainty over Greece and Spain come back into the spotlight," Suzuki said, also referring to Madrid's ongoing financial woes and need for a possible bailout.
Greece must present the "troika" -- the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund -- with a multi-billion euro budget-cutting plan by Friday.
The worries over Greece add to a string of weak data out of China, the United States and the eurozone.
"The euro will be under pressure as the ECB is expected to lower its key rate in November or in December," Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at Barclays Capital, said in a note to clients.
"The prospect of the eurozone's economic recovery is still uncertain given the global economic slowdown," he said. - AFP

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Euro mixed in Asian trade

TOKYO: The euro was mixed in Asian trade on Monday amid renewed uncertainty over the eurozone debt crisis, as markets turn their focus to a speech by the US central bank chief later this week.

The European common currency bought $1.2511 and 98.54 yen in Tokyo morning trade, compared with $1.2512 and 98.43 yen in New York late Friday.
The dollar bought 78.79 yen against 78.67 yen in US trade.
Dealers said markets looked for concrete steps from the European Central Bank (ECB) to tackle the region's fiscal woes with bank chief Mario Draghi hinting at fresh measures.
There has been rising speculation that the ECB would restart a bond buying programme to tame borrowing rates among troubled eurozone countries, such as Italy and Spain.
But Draghi said details of any ECB measures still had to be worked out with member states amid persistent speculation that eurozone paymaster Germany opposed the measures.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Friday about the terms of aid for debt-hit Athens but "there was no progress as earlier expected", Hiromichi Shirakawa, analyst at Credit Suisse in Tokyo, said in a note
AFP

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