Euro Falls Against Dollar as U.S. Worries Rise
The euro fell further against the dollar in Asia on Monday as risk appetite was eroded by renewed worries over Greek debt and fears of a possible recession in the world's biggest economy.
The euro dropped to $1.4158 in Tokyo trade from $1.4203 in New York late Friday. The European common unit also eased to 108.60 yen from 109.09 yen.
The greenback was at 0.7878 Swiss francs compared with 0.7885. It fell to 76.71 against the yen, from 76.82.
The euro fetched 1.1192 against the Swiss franc, from 1.1210 late Friday in New York.
The euro remained weak as investors moved to shun riskier assets, taking a cue from sell-offs in Asian stock markets following dismal U.S. jobs data, dealers said.
Official data released Friday showed the struggling U.S. economy added no jobs in August after 10 months of gains amid rising fears of recession while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.1 percent from July.
The worst jobs data since September 2010 sent US stocks plummeting Friday.
"This (U.S. jobs report) is likely to bring further calls for quantitative easing, despite the Federal Reserve's apparent aversion," Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, told Dow Jones Newswires.
There is a "significant amount of opposition to any further quantitative easing", said Wellington-based ANZ bank economists in a note to clients. "Those still looking for silver bullets are out of luck."
The euro took the brunt of selling on Friday after the European Union and International Monetary Fund left a critical audit of Greek finances unfinished saying more budget work was needed, and the government admitted its deficit target was in trouble.
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos conceded that Greece would have to revise its public deficit target for this year, a key condition for continued funding from the 110-billion-euro ($158-billion) bailout loan agreed last year with the EU, IMF and European Central Bank.
Also negative for the euro was news that German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) suffered an election defeat in her home state Sunday, with the news unsettling the market, dealers said.
On top of renewed concern over the Greek debt crisis, diminishing expectations for further ECB rate hikes were also weighing on the euro, said Daisaku Ueno, chief analyst at Gaitame.Com Research Institute.
The ECB will hold a policy-setting meeting on Thursday.
The dollar was broadly higher against other major Asian currencies, up to Sg$1.2061 from 1.2038 on Friday and to 1,068.18 South Korean won from 1,061.90.
The unit also firmed to Tw$29.03 from 29.01 and to 8,536.88 Indonesian rupiah from 8,518.75. It eased to 42.20 Philippine pesos from 42.22 and to 29.92 Thai baht from 29.94.
Source: Agence France Presse
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