Euro rises in Asia

The euro inched higher versus the dollar and the Australian dollar hit a five-month high on Thursday as risk sentiment improved after global manufacturing data allayed the market's worst fears about global growth. Underscoring its broad retreat, the dollar hovered near a three-month low hit against the yen touched the previous day, and the US currency also fell against emerging Asian currencies such as the Singapore dollar.
The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.3176, pulling away from Wednesday's intraday low of $1.3026. Helping to support the single currency was news that Greece's long-delayed deal with private sector creditors to cut its debt burden is nearly wrapped up. "PMIs in the US, China, Germany are more resilient than expected, encouraging heavy money to finally step in as the holy combination of PMIs above 50 and loose monetary policy means buying risk," said Sebastien Galy, strategist at Societe Generale.
The Australian dollar touched a five-month high of $1.0758, helped by data showing Australia's trade surplus rebounded to the highest in three months in December. Traders said the Australian dollar later pared some of its gains due to profit-taking by leveraged players. The Australian dollar last stood at $1.0721, up 0.1 percent from late US trade on Wednesday.
Markets are waiting to see how debt sales from France and Spain will fare. Recent successful debt auctions showed the European Central Bank's injection of nearly half a trillion euros of cheap funds has helped bolster demand. The dollar dipped 0.1 percent to 76.13 yen, stuck near a three-month low of 76.027 yen hit on Wednesday on trading platform EBS.
The US dollar has come under pressure after the Federal Reserve said last week it was likely to keep interest rates near zero at least until late 2014. The dollar has been edging closer to a record low of 75.311 yen hit on October 31, when Japan intervened heavily to curb the yen's strength. Japan might intervene again if dollar/yen drops below 75.50 yen or market volatility were to increase sharply, said Gareth Berry, G10 FX analyst for UBS in Singapore.
Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi said on Thursday he is prepared to take firm measures on currencies when needed, hinting at the chance of solo intervention in forex markets as the yen edges higher versus the dollar. Some traders have said that Japanese authorities may be hesitant to intervene unless the dollar hits a record low versus the yen, after the US Treasury in December expressed disapproval over Japan's solo intervention in October.