TOKYO: The euro inched up against other currencies in Asian trade Thursday although concern over Greece's financial rehabilitation kept the embattled currency under pressure.
The euro fetched $1.2297 and 97.24 yen in Tokyo morning trade, compared with $1.2285 and 96.91 yen in New York late Wednesday.
The dollar firmed to 79.13 yen from 78.87 yen a day earlier when US inflation and industrial production data pointed to continued but modest improvement for the world's biggest economy.
Despite the euro's rise Thursday, concerns about Athens spiked again following a report in the Financial Times that Greece will call for a two-year extension to its tough austerity programme.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will make the request when he meets German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande next week, the newspaper said Wednesday.
"Concerns that this proposal may get short shrift when Greek PM Samaras meets with Mrs Merkel and other EU leaders next week, is set to keep euro sentiment fragile at best," National Australia Bank said in a note.
Samaras was also scheduled to meet the head of eurozone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, for talks next week.
The dollar's gain on the yen came as Dow Jones Newswires said Japan's top currency policy bureaucrat, Takehiko Nakao, will stay in the post for another year to lead the nation's protracted fight against the surging yen.
The move would likely ensure that officials, who blame the currency's rise on speculative trading, will keep acting against sharp rises in the yen, which hit record highs on the dollar late last year and remains strong.
A strong yen hurts Japans exporters by making their products less competitive abroad, while shrinking the value of their foreign-earned income.
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