TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar gained against the euro in late Asian trading Thursday, after a report that Greece could seek help from the International Monetary Fund weighed on the European unit. A senior Greek official told Dow Jones Newswires that the prospect of help from the European Union "doesn't look good" and that Greece could seek IMF help over the April 2-4 weekend if E.U. help doesn't come through. "The Greek issue continues to hover over the euro/dollar like a dark cloud," said Boris Schlossberg, director of currency research at GFT. "If the E.U. is unable to find a pan-European solution to resolve the crisis, the currency could weaken further on fears that many of the other Southern European economies may be next as risk of fragmentation increases exponentially," he said in a note to clients Thursday. The euro changed hands at $1.3662, down from $1.3735 in late North American trading Wednesday. The British pound fell to $1.5260 from $1.5315. But the dollar slipped against its Japanese counterpart, to 90.01 yen, from 90.26 yen late Wednesday. The dollar index (DXY 79.88, +0.25, +0.31%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 80.001, up from 79.734 late Wednesday. On Wednesday, the dollar notched gains against the yen but fell against the British pound, with the central banks overseeing those currencies taking a prominent role for investors. See Wednesday's Currencies report.

Source