TOKYO: The euro dipped against major currencies in Asian trade Friday as European leaders struggled to hammer out a deal to tackle the eurozone's debt crisis at a summit seen as crucial to the bloc's survival.
The euro fell to around $1.3280 in Tokyo afternoon trade, down from $1.3341 in New York late Thursday and the lowest level since November 30. The common European currency also fell to 103.20 yen from 103.58.
The dollar was almost unchanged against the Japanese currency, at 77.62 yen.
"The overall picture for solving the debt problem remains uncertain, particularly the key issue of who will provide money to settle the crisis," said Yoshio Yoshida, a trader at Mizuho Trust and Banking.
It is tough to justify buying the euro "unless this whole picture comes into view," he told Dow Jones Newswires, adding the euro could rally to as high as 1.3700 over the next week if the summit succeeds in clearing the tough hurdles.
The euro's fall came as markets digested news that the European Central Bank would not buy bonds from the eurozone's debt-strapped economies indefinitely, with its head saying any purchases were "limited" and "temporary".
The ECB at a governing council meeting on Thursday cut its key rates and boosted measures to help banks, with its Italian president, Mario Draghi, saying the lender would continue to play its part as a firefighter in the crisis, but that it was for governments to solve the problem.
"The ultimate decisions are in the hands of leaders," Draghi said.
Leaders were also divided over new rules -- requiring changes to an existing regional treaty -- to ensure tighter fiscal discipline across the continent.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who earlier warned there might be "no second chance" for a deal, argued that full-blown treaty change with tighter fiscal unity is the way to reassure markets that governments will live within their means.
In the early hours of Friday, officials said the summit had dropped a plan for treaty changes for all 27 nations, instead opting for reform of the treaty for just the 17 eurozone members.
The dollar was higher against most other Asian currencies.
It rose to 1,146.60 South Korean won from 1,130.14 Thursday, to Tw$30.21 from Tw$30.19, to 43.59 Philippine pesos from 43.35 and to Sg$1.3036 from Sg$1.2865.
But the greenback also went up to 30.95 Thai baht from 30.76 and to 9,090.00 Indonesian rupiah from 9,055.00.
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