TOKYO: The euro traded in a narrow range in Asia on Thursday as investors looked to a European Union summit starting later in the day, amid shrinking hopes for a breakthrough fix for the region's fiscal woes.
The common currency bought $1.2491 and 99.20 yen in Tokyo trade, from $1.2467 and 99.38 yen in New York late Wednesday.
The dollar was weaker at 79.44 yen from 79.71 yen in US trade.
The greenback had firmed slightly overnight as markets braced for unemployment data in Germany, Europe's largest economy, due Thursday which are expected to show a rise in joblessness.
German leader Angela Merkel held last-minute discussions Wednesday with French President Francois Hollande before the crucial summit but warned she would not budge in her opposition to pooling eurozone debt.
EU leaders, meanwhile, are gathering in Brussels for the latest talks aimed at containing the 17-nation eurozone debt crisis, now in its third year, as the bloc's problems widen.
Cyprus and Spain have joined the earlier victims of contagion -- Greece, Portugal and Ireland -- in requesting bailout funds.
With Italy, the eurozone's third economy, also threatened, the EU is under pressure from world leaders to deliver a convincing plan to prevent a collapse of the single currency, which would have massive global repercussions.
"The key is whether talks of supporting financial institutions like the banking union and talks of growth strategy will move forward a little bit," a senior dealer at a major Japanese bank told Dow Jones Newswires.
Given relatively low expectations for any drastic measures to be taken, any outcome from the summit was unlikely to raise the euro's downside risk significantly, he added.
"Caution over European sovereign debt problems continues to be high," Sumino Kamei, senior analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, said in a note, adding that the results of an Italian bond auction would also impact the euro.
Europe's sovereign debt problems will likely remain in focus over the coming weeks, as questions remain about whether terms for a Greek bailout will be softened and how much progress would be made on a rescue for Spain's banking sector, dealers said.
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