Euro weakens in Asia, eyes on EU summit

TOKYO: The euro weakened in Asia on Monday as moved out of the common currency ahead of a European summit later in the week and the release of closely-watched Chinese economic growth data.

The unit dipped to $1.2909 and 101.46 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade from $1.2958 and 101.60 yen in New York late Friday.

The dollar firmed to 78.59 yen against 78.39 yen.

There was little fresh news to drive markets, with euro fall likely stemming from sell orders caused by weakness in other risk-sensitive currencies including the Australian dollar on concerns over China's economy, traders said.

"The fall was not driven by news but flows, possibly from overseas players," a senior trader at a Japanese bank told Dow Jones Newswires.

On Monday, Beijing said inflation slowed in September to 1.9 percent year-on-year, while Saturday it said exports surged almost 10 percent in the same month, much better than expectations.

But eyes are on the release Thursday of growth data for the three months to the end of September, with investors hoping trying to gauge the state of the world's second-biggest economy.

China's economy grew 7.6 percent in the second quarter through the end of June for its weakest performance in three years and the sixth straight quarter of slowing expansion.