| GEO Business | | Euro remains under pressure in Asia | Updated at: 0816 PST, Tuesday, May 18, 2010
 TOKYO: The euro remained under pressure in Asia on Tuesday after recovering slightly from a four-year low on persistent worries over European debts, analysts said.
The euro bought 1.2335 dollars in Tokyo morning trade, down from 1.2394 dollars in New York late Monday but up from its low of 1.2234.
The euro also sank to 114.17 yen from 114.79 yen.
The dollar was quoted at 92.48 yen, unchanged from the New York level.
Eurozone finance ministers met in Brussels on Monday, battling to defend the euro but with no obvious agreement on tactics to slash spending.
Sentiment remained fragile despite an EU-IMF rescue package worth almost one trillion dollars designed to prevent the Greek crisis from spreading.
Concerns linger that a default would hit the financial system in the same way the collapse of Lehman Brothers did in 2008, while necessary austerity measures will crush European growth.
"The market simply doesn't want to buy the euro. Confidence on the euro will not be restored" until the fiscal crisis in Greece and other countries is resolved, said Credit Suisse strategist Satoru Ogasawara.
Ogasawara noted the market now tended to react to negative news rather than positive news, saying the euro could resume its plunge.
A dealer at a major Japanese bank told Dow Jones Newswires that a US bank was selling "a lot of the euro" although there was no fresh news.
The bank's selling was likely just sell-on-rally activity based on its bet that the euro is likely to fall in the longer term, the dealer said. |  |
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