TOKYO: The euro remained weak against the dollar and the yen in Asian trade Friday, after it dropped in Europe following announcements from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.
The single currency was changing hands at $1.2901 and 129.50 yen in Friday morning trade, down from $1.3000 and 129.62 yen in London Thursday.
The dollar was up against the yen, fetching 100.37 yen against 99.71 yen.
The US market was closed Thursday for a public holiday.
Europe's two most important central banks took unprecedented steps Thursday to reassure financial markets that interest rates on their side of the Atlantic are unlikely to rise any time soon.
Seeking to calm worries about the political crisis in Portugal and assuage concerns that the prolonged period of easy money is coming to an end in the United States, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England separately pledged to keep their borrowing costs low for as long as needed.
After the ECB held its key "refi" rate steady at 0.50 percent for the third month in a row, ECB chief Mario Draghi vowed that "monetary policy will remain accommodative for as long as necessary".
The guardian of the euro "expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time," Draghi said.
"Our exit (from low interest rates) is very distant."
In London, where the Bank of England also held its interest rate steady at 0.50 percent, the bank's new governor, Canadian Mark Carney, hinted that there would be no rise in borrowing costs in the short term.
Looking ahead, traders are closely watching US jobs data due out later Friday.
"For the time being, the main protagonist in the market would be the euro rather than the yen as Japan is not expected to have major policy changes ahead of the upper house elections" on July 21, said Barclays Capital in a note to clients.
"If the US jobs data turns out to be strong, the dollar is likely to further advance against the euro and the British pound," it said.
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