TOKYO: The euro remained under pressure Friday as investors kept a close eye on political turmoil in debt-hit Greece, with fresh elections expected despite efforts to form a new coalition government.
The euro was changing hands at $1.2915 and 103.27 yen in morning Tokyo trade, against $1.2939 and 103.47 yen in New York trade Thursday.
The dollar slipped to 79.88 yen from 79.95 yen.
"The pair (dollar/euro) is supported above 1.2900 now, but it will be quick when it falls below that," said a dealer at a major Japanese bank, according to Dow Jones Newswires
Greece's socialist leader said Thursday he was making progress towards assembling a coalition government but was still well shy of the parliamentary majority that has eluded two other parties.
Those efforts follow failures this week by the first-placed conservative New Democracy party and the runner-up, the radical leftwing Syriza, which had come out strongly against tough spending cuts to tame Greece's huge public debt.
Greek voters on Sunday punished the main parties in a backlash against severe austerity measures in return for multi-billion-euro international loans to stave off bankruptcy and keep Greece in the eurozone.
A slightly better-than-expected report on weekly US jobless claims helped the dollar, while traders also focused on a neutral speech Thursday by US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke, who gave no hint on whether the Fed was looking at more stimulus for the world's biggest economy.
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