TOKYO (AFP) ― The euro was weak in Asian trade on Tuesday, after the common currency rallied sharply late last week with traders now focusing on a European Central Bank rate-setting meeting.
The common currency was quoted at $1.2585 and 100.09 yen in Tokyo morning trade, little changed from $1.2582 and 100.05 yen in New York late Monday.
The dollar was also little changed at 79.53 yen, from 79.50 yen in the previous day’s trade, ahead of key U.S. jobs data later in the week as markets remain cautious about the health of the world’s biggest economy.
Weak manufacturing reports out of the United States and China have stoked worries about the world economy.
A surprise list of measures aimed at reversing the eurozone’s spiraling crisis had sent the euro higher last week, but the unit’s rally quickly fizzled with traders looking for what, if any, action the ECB would take at its policy meeting Thursday.
The ECB’s “Governing Council may have little choice but to implement a range of policy tools to shore up the ailing economy as the region faces a growing threat of a prolonged recession,” David Song, Currency Analyst at DailyFX, told Dow Jones Newswires.