By MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) - The dollar gained on the euro in Asian trading Thursday, ahead of the European Central Bank's meeting later in the session.
While the ECB is virtually certain to leave interest rates unchanged for months to come, the onus Thursday will be on Jean-Claude Trichet to use his monthly news conference to reassure investors that Greece can survive its chronic debt woes. See ECB preview.
The euro (CUR_EURUSD 1.3316, -0.0024, -0.1799%) fell to $1.3297 from $1.3375 in late North American trading Wednesday. The British pound (CUR_GBPUSD 1.5219, -0.0014, -0.0926%) bought $1.5197, down from $1.5271.
The dollar index (DXY 81.70, +0.26, +0.32%) , which measures the U.S unit against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose to 81.801 from 81.446 late Wednesday.
Against its Japanese counterpart, the dollar (CUR_USDYEN 92.8900, -0.3300, -0.3539%) slipped to 92.93 yen from 93.29 yen late Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the dollar pared gains versus major currencies, after touching a new 11-month high against the euro as comments from Federal Reserve speakers and a well-received U.S. bond auction caused traders to reverse expectations that U.S. interest rates will rise quickly. See Wednesday's Currencies report.
