By Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch TOKYO (MarketWatch) --- The euro edged down against the dollar in Asian trading Thursday ahead of the European Central Bank meeting later in the session. The bank will announce its interest-rate decision at 1:45 p.m. Frankfurt time, or 7:45 a.m. Eastern. President Jean-Claude Trichet will hold his monthly news conference at 8:30 a.m. See ECB preview. The ECB is expected to leave its key lending rate at a record low 1%. The market's main focus will be the tone of Trichet's remarks and whether they reveal deepening concerns about slowing U.S. growth. The euro (EURUSD 1.2832, +0.0033, +0.2578%) slipped to $1.2786 from $1.2799 in late North American trading on Wednesday. The British pound (GBPUSD 1.5396, -0.0048, -0.3108%) fell to $1.5383 from $1.5453. Meanwhile, the dollar slipped against its Japanese counterpart, even after a Japanese political candidate reiterated his call for direct currency-market intervention to stem the recently strong yen. Ruling-party presidential candidate Ichiro Ozawa said in a televised debate with his party rival, Prime Minister Naoto Kan, that Japan should intervene to stem the yen's appreciation, even though unilateral action was unlikely to change the long-term trend. "I think the recent rapid pace of the yen's rise means that we probably have to act with due determination," Ozawa said, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Against the yen (USDYEN 84.2000, -0.2400, -0.2842%) -- which surged to a 15-year high against the greenback last week -- the dollar slipped to ¥84.15, from ¥84.46 late Wednesday. The dollar index (DXY 82.33, -0.20, -0.24%) , a measure of the U.S. unit against a basket of currencies, rose to 82.551, from 82.514 late Wednesday. On Wednesday, the dollar rose against the yen but declined against the euro and other major currencies after a measure of U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly improved last month. See Wednesday's Currencies report.

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