Euro rises in Asia

The euro rose on profit-taking on Friday after slipping to an eight-month low the previous day, but its gains could prove fleeting after market players were unimpressed by a G20 pledge to preserve financial stability. The euro climbed by as much as 0.8 percent earlier after Jiji news agency reported that Group of 20 officials were working toward an emergency statement, stirring hopes for action to soothe jitters over the euro zone's debt crisis.
The communique, however, contained no surprises and market players said they were sceptical that the euro, or risk currencies like the Australian dollar, would enjoy a sustained bounce. "There is nothing new, nothing substantial where we can grasp and say 'this is good, now we can put on some risk again.' I don't think it changes the bigger picture," said Jesper Bargmann, Asia head of G11 spot FX for RBS in Singapore.
Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 economies pledged on Thursday to prevent Europe's debt crisis from undermining banks and financial markets, and said the euro zone's rescue fund would be bolstered, adding that they would take all steps needed to ease the stresses that are wracking the global financial system.
The euro rose 0.2 percent from late US trading on Thursday to $1.3490, having bounced off an eight-month low of $1.3384 hit the previous day on trading platform EBS.
The Australian dollar inched up 0.1 percent to $0.9756, well below an intraday high of $0.9865. On Thursday, it had slid to as low as $0.9692, its lowest in nearly 10 months. The dollar index, which measures the dollar's value against a basket of currencies, dipped 0.2 percent to 78.313, having backed off a seven-month high of 78.798 reached a day ago.
Thursday's rally in the dollar index had stalled just above the 200-week moving average at 78.758, and a clear breach of that resistance could set the dollar index up for more gains. The yen pulled back from a 10-year high struck versus the euro the previous day. The euro rose 0.3 percent against the yen to 102.93 yen, having bounced back from Thursday's trough of 102.211 yen, euro/yen's lowest in more than 10 years.