Euro dives on Europe worries

SINGAPORE: The euro fell against the dollar in Asian trade Wednesday amid fears France risks a credit downgrade and after a Greek official warned the country was close to running out of cash, analysts said.

The euro dived to $1.3471 in early trade compared with $1.3518 on Wall Street late Tuesday, while the European currency traded at 103.69 yen from 103.71 yen.

The greenback was barely changed at 76.99 yen from 76.97 yen late Tuesday.

Japan's financial markets are closed for a holiday.

Traders were fleeing the euro into the safe-haven dollar after a Greek government official was quoted as saying Athens would run out of money in less than three weeks, analysts said.

"A senior Greek government official said that they have enough money for another 20 days," said Shawn Lim, a forex dealer with Phillip Futures in Singapore.

The official also warned that Athens would default should its politicians stonewall an eight billion euro loan tranche from the European Union by refusing to back agreed reforms.

This, together with a warning by Moody's that France's AAA credit rating was in danger, slowing growth and the eurozone crisis "are playing down the euro at the moment," he told. (AFP)