TOKYO: The euro was lower versus other major currencies in Asian trade on Monday as the market took a cautious stance before a meeting of eurozone finance ministers, dealers said.
The euro retreated to $1.3343 in Tokyo morning trade from $1.3382 in New York late Friday. The single European currency also eased to 110.60 yen from 110.90.
The dollar fetched 82.90 yen, against 82.94 in late New York trading.
The euro lost ground following a recent upward march prompted by a series of successful debt auctions by Spain, Italy and Portugal last week that helped ease worries about the eurozone economy, dealers said.
The market is now focusing on a European finance ministers' meeting due to start later in the day, they added.
"After the euro attracted brisk purchases late last week, the market is cautious over upcoming comments from European ministers that could sway the euro on both sides," said Yuichiro Harada, dealer at Mizuho Corporate Bank.
The market is also cautiously awaiting a meeting between US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao, following Hu's comments on currency over the weekend.
"The current international currency system is the product of the past," Hu said Sunday in written answers to questions posed by The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
His comments, ahead of a state visit to Washington on Wednesday, reflected continuing tensions over the dollar's role as the major reserve currency in the aftermath of the US financial crisis in 2008.
Highlighting the dollar's importance to global trade, Hu implicitly criticized the Federal Reserve's recent decision to pump 600 billion dollars into the US economy, a move criticized as weakening the dollar at the expense of other countries' exports.
"The monetary policy of the United States has a major impact on global liquidity and capital flows and therefore, the liquidity of the US dollar should be kept at a reasonable and stable level," Hu said.
"The market reacted little to Hu's comments as such remarks are seen as an extension of what China has been claiming," Harada said.
"But investors are closely watching how the US side will commit and react (at the US-China meeting)."
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