MW: Dollar slips; euro edges up after Weber comments
By MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar slipped in Asia Tuesday as the euro made up some lost ground after a key euro-zone financial official had reassuring words late Monday for the single currency.
Despite the debt woes faced by Greece and some other European nations, there is "no such risk" that the euro will collapse, said Axel Weber, Germany's central bank representative at the European Central Bank.
Weber told CNBC Monday that the euro faces "no credibility problem," according to reports.
However, analysts remained skeptical of euro gains as Greece continues talks with representatives of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The two organizations are jointly providing Greece's bailout.
The German political agenda is clashing with the Greek financial agenda, ahead of May 9 state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, said Sebastien Barbe, head of emerging-market research at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong.
"We expect Germany to support the plan, eventually, but it will likely keep a tough tone ahead of the election, and the market will likely to continue to price in some remaining uncertainty in coming days," he said in emailed comments.
Against such a backdrop, the euro should remain soft against its U.S. counterpart as well as Asian currencies, "as investors will likely sell it on rally," Barbe said.
The dollar index (DXY 81.42, -0.06, -0.08%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a trade-weighted basket of six other currencies, traded at 81.311, down from 81.388 in late North American trading on Monday.
The euro (CUR_EURUSD 1.3361, -0.0031, -0.2315%) rose to $1.3383, from $1.3357 late Monday, and the British pound (CUR_GBPUSD 1.5382, -0.0072, -0.4659%) rose to $1.5456, from $1.5446.
The dollar (CUR_USDYEN 93.8100, -0.2000, -0.2127%) bought 93.89 yen, down from 94.01 yen late Monday.
On Monday, the dollar strengthened against the euro after comments from Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany heightened uncertainties over the bailout of euro-zone member Greece. See Monday's Currencies report.
