TOKYO: The euro slumped in Asian trade Monday on deepening concerns over a possible default by Greece, with the single currency hitting a fresh 10-year low versus the yen in afternoon trade.
The euro hit 104.27 yen at 0455 GMT, its lowest level since June 2001, compared with 107.66 yen on Friday. The single currency was also lower against the dollar, at $1.3529 from $1.3649 Friday.
The dollar slipped to 77.17 yen from 77.58 yen.
"We are watching Greece, and only Greece," Satoshi Tate, a senior dealer at Mizuho Corporate Bank, told Dow Jones Newswires. "Conditions are getting very serious and everyone is worried how the issue will unfold."
The euro's slide sent Asian stocks tumbling, with Tokyo's Nikkei slumping more than 2 percent in afternoon trade, and prompted speculation of a possible euro-buying intervention by Japan.
Debt-ridden Greece Sunday announced two billion euros in new budget cuts demanded by the EU and the IMF for its rescue package, as Germany warned a Greek "orderly default" could not be ruled out.
EU economy commissioner Olli Rehn said Sunday a team of experts would head to Athens in the next few days to look at a new tranche of Greece's 2010 rescue package.
"Once Greece meets the conditions, I expect the review by the troika could be concluded by the end of September," he said, referring to the European Commission, the European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.
The three lenders had left Greece earlier this month because of the government's lack of progress on deficit reduction and meeting conditions for the next tranche of its 2010 bailout plan.
Meanwhile, Germany's Economy Minister Philipp Roesler pointedly said, in a column to be published Monday, that Europe could no longer rule out an "orderly default" for Greece as it struggles with it crippling debt.
On Saturday Der Spiegel magazine reported that the German government was preparing two contingency plans in the event of a Greek default.
Adding to ongoing concerns about the eurozone debt crisis was the unexpected resignation of Germany's Juergen Stark, the ECB's chief economist and a member of the executive board, well before the end of his term of office in May 2014.
ECB watchers suggested that his exit shows the central bank is deeply split over its approach to handling the sovereign debt crisis.
"A string of negative news sent the euro tumbling without any support," said Sumino Kamei, senior analyst at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
A closely watched meeting of the Group of Seven finance chiefs' meeting Friday ended without any concrete conclusions, which also dampened sentiment, said dealers.
"The G7 didn’t seem to comfort the market by noting that they will take all the necessary steps to ensure resilience in the financial markets," noted Emma Lawson of National Australia Bank.
Markets were looking ahead to speeches Monday by ECB chief Jean Claude-Trichet and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, she added.
The dollar was higher against other major Asian currencies, firming to Sg$1.2322 from Sg$1.2185 on Friday, to 1,094.90 South Korean won from 1,077.82 and to Tw$29.39 from Tw$29.19.
The greenback also gained to 8,608.75 Indonesian rupiah from 8,573.75, to 42.69 Philippine pesos from 42.49 and to 30.12 Thai baht from 30.04.
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