SINGAPORE—The euro and other currencies remained under selling pressure Friday in Asia, as promises from Group of 20 officials to take coordinated steps to shore up the global economy left markets underwhelmed.
The euro managed a small rally early in Asian trade after steep losses overnight, but the optimism proved short-lived and the common currency soon gave back most of its gains as Asian shares came in for more abuse following the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 400-point plunge.
A G-20 communiqué, released as International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings got under way Friday in Washington, was long on good intentions but short on concrete plans to restore stability to peripheral European countries and the continent's trembling banking system. The statement seemed to lift sentiment somewhat, as Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 72 points in screen trade midafternoon Friday in Singapore, but it didn't move currency markets.
"The lesson of the past few weeks and months is that talk is cheap. They need to carry through with actions to support growth expectations, and until we see that, risk assets will be sold into rallies," said Callum Henderson, global head of FX research at Standard Chartered Bank.
Trade in Asia was relatively quiet following a tumultuous week, and because Tokyo banks were shut for a holiday.
Midafternoon Friday, the euro was at $1.3519, versus $1.3464 late in New York and after touching an earlier intraday high of $1.3568.
The U.S. dollar was trading at ¥76.29, as Japanese officials again registered their discomfort with the yen's strength, this time to G-20 counterparts during meetings in Washington.
"I told the meeting I'm concerned that the yen's appreciation, especially since August, has thrown cold water on Japan's economic recovery," Finance Minister Jun Azumi said at a news conference.
The Australian dollar was stumbling along at US$0.9768, after falling below parity in overnight trade Thursday. Central banks in Taiwan and South Korea were suspected of selling more U.S. dollars into the market Friday as their currencies slid further against the currency.
Besides those two authorities, central banks in Indonesia and Thailand were also seen intervening to defend their currencies this week. The central bank display of firepower may be making traders think twice about bidding up the U.S. dollar much further, said Stuart Oakley, head of emerging markets FX trading at Royal Bank of Scotland.
"If you've got hedge funds and investors going up against Asian central banks, who do you thinks going to win?" he said. "I do think the strong-dollar move has mostly run its course with respect to Asian currencies, and we're much closer to the end than the beginning."
Corrections & Amplifications:
The Australian dollar was at US$0.9768 midafternoon Thursday in Singapore. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the Aussie dollar was at US$97.68.
Write to Martin Vaughan at martin.vaughan@dowjones.com
