Euro under pressure

Tokyo - The euro remained under pressure in Asia on Friday as market players awaited developments in Greece's talks on a debt writedown.

The single currency fetched $1.3103 in Tokyo afternoon trade, flat from New York late on Thursday, while easing to ¥100.81 from ¥101.48.

The dollar fell to ¥76.92 from ¥77.40 as short-term speculators triggered stop-loss selling orders around ¥77.25, a dealer at a major Japanese investment bank said.

The dollar trended lower after the Federal Reserve's pledge to maintain low interest rates for a prolonged period, the dealer told Dow Jones Newswires.

Broader market attention was shifting back to the ongoing Greek debt talks, said Sumino Kamei, senior analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

The focus will be on a European Union summit meeting in Brussels on Monday and whether any progress will be made by then, she said.

"With uncertainty over the future of the European sovereign debt crisis, the euro will continue to fall," she said.

Greece resumed talks on Thursday with banks and insurers on a deal for a major debt writedown to escape looming default.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos met the private creditors' lead negotiators, Charles Dallara and Jean Lemierre, with the talks due to resume again on Friday.

The private creditors said in a statement that "some progress was realised" in Thursday's discussions.

The dollar mostly firmed against other Asian currencies.

It edged up to 31.29 Thai baht from 31.23 baht Thursday, to Sg$1.2573 from Sg$1.2562, to 42.84 Philippine pesos from 42.81 pesos, to 1 123.30 South Korean won from 1 121.00 won, and to 8 965.00 Indonesian rupiah from 8 960.00 rupiah.

The dollar held steady at Tw$29.89.