Euro weakens further in Asian trade

TOKYO: The euro lost more ground in Asian trade Friday after central banks in Europe and China ushered in rate cuts and fresh easing, while US jobless data came in better than expected.

The common currency was changing hands at $1.2377 in Tokyo morning trade, down from $1.2391 in New York late Thursday.

The unit was also well down from its level above $1.25 the previous day, which was largely driven by surprise eurozone crisis measures adopted following European Union talks in Brussels last week.

Against the safe-haven Japanese currency, the euro dipped further to 98.97 yen, from 99.00 yen in US trade.

The dollar, meanwhile, got a small boost at 79.97 yen, up from 79.88 yen in New York trade, after data Thursday showed US unemployment benefits tumbled last week, suggesting an easing in layoffs and beating analyst expectations.

"The euro has faced an isolated fall against the dollar and other currencies like the Aussie," said Osao Iizuka, head of FX trading at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.

Markets are now looking to a June US labour report Friday for signs about the state of the world's largest economy, and whether it would prompt the US Federal Reserve to step in with fresh easing measures.

"A stronger-than-expected outcome would prompt dollar buying, but its topside is likely to be heavy" amid worries over the global economy, Sumino Kamei, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ senior analyst, told Dow Jones Newswires.

The Bank of China led off the action with a surprise rate cut, its second in less than a month, underscoring both the sharpness of the country's slowdown and the authorities' resolve to counter it.

The European Central Bank's cut, to a record low 0.75 percent, was on the other hand widely anticipated.

At the same time, the Bank of England kept its rate even but announced #50 billion ($78 billion) in additional stimulus. (AFP)