TOKYO: The dollar was mixed in Asia Friday as markets focused on poor growth data out of debt-hit Europe and worries about the so-called "fiscal cliff" reversing a recovery in the United States.
The dollar gained to 79.51 yen in Tokyo trade, from 79.43 yen in New York late Thursday, while the euro rose on the greenback at $1.2779 from $1.2748.
The single currency also climbed to 101.62 yen from 101.28 yen.
The euro's gains Friday were mainly due to short covering by traders with uncertainties about the eurozone, particularly Greece and Spain, likely to dent the currency's rise, dealers said.
It "won't be easy for (European) officials to ease market concerns. Markets may become negative about Spain again," said Atsushi Hirano, head of foreign exchange sales in Japan at Royal Bank of Scotland.
Stock and currency markets have also been jittery over the so-called US "fiscal cliff", a package of spending cuts and tax hikes scheduled to come into effect on January 1 unless Congress reaches another spending deal.
In the wake of President Barack Obama's re-election, there are growing fears that further deadlock on the issue would see a reversal in the lumbering US recovery, possibly sending the country back into recession and dealing a huge blow to an already slowing global economy.
Traders also digested news of a possible delay in Greece's new austerity package, a deal necessary for the debt-hit nation to receive the next tranche of its international bailout, amid huge protests in Athens.
This week, the European Union cut its economic growth forecast and the head of the European Central Bank, which kept rates steady Thursday, stoked worries about how slowing growth is hurting Germany, the continent's top economy.
The dollar was mixed against other Asia-Pacific currencies.
It declined to Sg$1.2226 from Sg$1.2245 Thursday, to Tw$29.03 from Tw$29.12 and to 54.31 Indian rupees from 54.54 rupees.
The greenback also fell to 30.65 Thai baht from 30.72 baht but rose to 1,088.35 South Korean won from 1,088.20 won and 9,629 Indonesian rupiah from 9,627 rupiah, while it was unchanged at 41.08 Philippine pesos.
The Australian dollar rose to $1.0419 from $1.0397 while China's yuan changed hands at 12.73 yen against 12.76 yen.
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