Euro halts decline in Asia

The euro won some reprieve in Asia on Thursday, having touched a record low versus the Swiss franc overnight, with traders citing buying interest emerging from players in the region including central banks. But the single currency's outlook remained shaky at best and more losses into 2011 are seen likely as the eurozone debt crisis looked set to drag on.
In contrast, the Australian dollar was back at parity against the greenback thanks to optimism about the global economy, which has supported commodity prices and global stocks. Trading, however, was thin in Asia with Tokyo shut for a public holiday and as the year-end holidays loomed. Many of the major currency pairs traded in slim, 20-40 point ranges. The euro was last at $1.3112, having traded in a tight range between $1.3097 and $1.3120. Bids were seen lined up around $1.3070, and offers around $1.3130/50.
In the past week, the single currency has fallen about 1 percent against the greenback. Versus the Swiss franc, the single currency bought 1.2457, having plumbed an all-time low around 1.2448 overnight after options barrier at 1.2500 were taken out, traders said. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback's performance against a basket of major currencies, fell about 0.2 percent to 80.516.
Against the yen, the dollar slid to one-week lows around 83.12, with traders citing stops being triggered below 83.40. The decline was exaggerated in very thin conditions, they said. Despite the fall, the pair is near the middle of a wider range roughly between 82.30 and 84.50 seen since late November. Meanwhile, the kiwi last stood at $0.7438, having recovered from a brief fall below $0.7400 in immediate reaction to data showing a contraction in the New Zealand economy for the first time in six quarters. The recovery in the kiwi knocked the Aussie off a 10-year high of NZ$1.3505 set just after the NZ GDP data. The pair last traded at NZ$1.3453. Against the greenback, the Aussie was at one-week highs around $1.0017.