Euro dips in Asia

The euro gave back some gains on Thursday from a short-covering rally the previous day, as persistent worries about Spain's debt woes cloud the outlook for the single currency. The euro eased 0.1 percent to $1.2146, but stayed above a two-year low of $1.2042 hit on trading platform EBS earlier this week.
The daily Ichimoku chart, a popular technical analysis tool, shows resistance for the euro near $1.2184, which is where the Ichimoku chart's tenkan line now lies. The euro rose on Wednesday after European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said he could see grounds for giving the euro zone bailout fund a banking license that would increase its crisis-fighting firepower.
But ECB President Mario Draghi has poured cold water on the idea, while legal problems could also prevent the central bank from allowing the European Stability Mechanism rescue fund to tap liquidity operations. "The fact is the ECB is still quite divided on the issue of giving the ESM a banking license," said Mitul Kotecha, head of global foreign exchange strategy for Credit Agricole in Hong Kong.
Sentiment toward the euro remains bearish given spiralling Spanish borrowing costs that have fuelled concerns the country will need a full sovereign bailout. The Spanish 10-year government bond yield fell to roughly 7.40 percent on Wednesday, but is not far away from a euro era high of about 7.75 percent.
The euro came under renewed pressure after Spain's heavily indebted eastern region of Valencia said last week it would need financial help from Madrid, highlighting the dire fiscal straits of Spain's regions. Still, with the euro having slid roughly 9 percent from a peak hit in May, it may be due for a bounce in the near-term, said a trader for a major Japanese bank in Singapore.
"There has been a pretty decent move since May... Timing-wise, it wouldn't be a surprise if the euro were to rise toward $1.24 on short-covering," the trader said. The euro's downside against the dollar may be limited ahead of next week's US Federal Reserve policy meeting, said Credit Agricole's Kotecha. "I think the dollar will find it difficult to make gains, given there is growing speculation that the Fed might take some action next week," he said.
The Fed's remaining policy tools include a third round of quantitative easing in the form of large-scale bond purchases - known as QE3 - and lowering the interest it pays banks on excess reserves they leave with the central bank. The dollar held steady at 78.18 yen, hovering near a seven-week low of 77.94 yen set this week. Dollar demand for Japanese importers may emerge at levels below 78.00 yen and help support the dollar, said the trader for a major Japanese bank in Tokyo. In addition, the dollar has been supported recently by wariness about potential yen-selling by the Bank of Japan, with some market players saying that a drop below 78.00 yen would heighten such jitters even more.