Euro struggles in Asia after ECB measures

Tokyo - The euro struggled to recover against the dollar in Asia Friday after hitting a more than two-year low in New York as the head of the European Central Bank (ECB) said he was prepared to unveil more measures to kickstart the eurozone economy.

In Tokyo, the single currency fetched $1.2373 against $1.2371 in New York, where it fell below $1.24 for the first time since August 2012.

It was also at ¥142.79 from ¥142.47 in US trade but was sharply down from the ¥143.20 earlier on Thursday in Tokyo.

The dollar bought ¥115.39, compared with ¥115.16 in New York, adding to its gains after last Friday's surprise announcement by the Bank of Japan to ramp up its own bond-buying programme.

"The euro has been under pressure, mainly in reaction to rising ECB easing expectations," Credit Agricole said.

On Wednesday ECB president Mario Draghi signalled the bank was ready to introduce fresh measures such as asset-buying - or quantitative easing (QE) - to counter deflation and boost growth in the ailing eurozone.

"Should it become necessary to further address risks of too prolonged a period of low inflation, the governing council is unanimous in its commitment to using additional unconventional instruments within its mandate," Draghi said.

Still, the he shied away from promoting a massive monetary easing plan, as the Fed exits its own quantitative easing scheme and after the Bank of Japan last week inflated its already hefty stimulus package.

"It must still be noted that (Draghi) failed to make a bigger case of sovereign QE," Credit Agricole said.

The focus is now on the release later in the day of the US Labor Department's jobs report for October, a key indicator of the health of the world's largest economy and the Fed's timeline for raising interest rates.

The dollar was mixed against other Asia-Pacific currencies.

It strengthened to Sg$1.2966 from Sg$1.2935 on Thursday, to Tw$30.63 from Tw$30.58, to 1 093.30 South Korean won from 1 088.64 won, and to 32.90 Thai baht from 32.79 baht.

The dollar also rose to 61.54 Indian rupees from 61.41 rupees, but it weakened to 45.06 Philippine pesos from 45.08 pesos and to 12 156.00 Indonesian rupiah from 12 165.30 rupiah.

The Australian dollar fell to 85.54 US cents from 85.94c while the Chinese yuan was stronger at ¥18.85 against ¥18.72.