Euro edges up after reducing Greek worries

TOKYO: The euro edged up against the dollar and yen in Asia on Wednesday after plunging overnight on worries over the Greek debt swap and a warning of a mild eurozone recession.

The euro was trading at $1.3137 and 106.10 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, up from $1.3113 and 106.06 yen in New York late Tuesday. The dollar was at 80.75 yen against 80.92 in New York.

The euro firmed as some investors appeared to have bought the common currency in relatively sizable volume, taking advantage of its recent fall, a dealer at a Japanese bank told Dow Jones Newswires.

The euro's gain came despite uncertainty over Greece's debt swap deal and fears of a disorderly default.

As Thursday night's deadline draws closer, concerns that not enough of Greece's creditors will sign on to the crucial debt swap brought new worries to the fragile eurozone.

The deal would be essentially a 107-billion-euro ($140 billion) writedown of Athens' bonds.

A new full-year eurozone growth estimate of 1.4 percent for 2011 was also issued by the EU statistics office Eurostat, which had previously estimated 1.5-percent growth, following an expansion of 1.9 percent in 2010.

The overall picture pointed to a double-dip recession within three years in the eurozone, which has been undermined by uncertainty arising from the debt crisis.

The dollar largely gained against Asian currencies. It rose to Sg$1.2616 in Tokyo afternoon trade from Sg$1.2612 on Tuesday, to 43.00 Philippine pesos from 42.93 pesos and to 1,125.85 South Korean won from 1,122.32 won.

The dollar also increased to 30.75 Thai baht from 30.70 baht and to Tw$29.53 from Tw$29.52 but fell to 9,176.25 Indonesian rupiah from 9,192.50.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012