By Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — The euro inched higher in mostly quiet holiday action during East Asian afternoon trading hours Monday, with the dollar slightly weaker against most of its major rivals.
The euro EURUSD +0.1073% changed hands at $1.3059, up marginally from $1.3047 in late North American trading Friday.
The U.S. unit saw some mild gains Friday after Italian bond yields rose above the 7% level, raising concerns about Europe’s finances. See report on Friday’s foreign-exchange trade.
But trading was subdued, with many stock and bond markets closed for the Christmas holiday, and volumes could remain light heading into the new year.
Among other major pairs, the dollar eased against the Japanese yen USDJPY -0.08% , slipping to ¥77.99 from ¥78.03 late Friday.
The British pound GBPUSD +0.18% inched higher to $1.5612 from $1.5609. The Australian dollar AUDUSD +0.19% also gained modestly to $1.0159 from $1.0148, with Sydney markets closed until Wednesday.
Michael Kitchen is Asia editor for MarketWatch and is based in Los Angeles.
