AFP, Tokyo :
The euro was stuck around $1.32 in Asia Tuesday after falling to an 11-month low against the dollar on a weak batch of German data and hints the European Central Bank could unveil easing measures to fight off deflation.
The common European currency was at $1.3201 in Tokyo afternoon trade compared with $1.3193 in New York on Monday afternoon. The unit at one point Tuesday tumbled to as low as $1.3178 — its lowest since September.
It was also at 137.12 yen against 137.23 yen in US trade. The dollar also dropped to 103.85 yen from 104.01 yen as the greenback’s recent rally in anticipation of higher US interest rates ran out of steam.
The euro’s renewed weakness came after data showed Monday Germany’s Ifo business confidence index fell to the lowest level in 13 months in August as Europe’s biggest economy stumbles.
The Ifo economic institute’s closely watched business climate index fell to 106.3 points in August from 108.0 in July, the fourth straight decline.
“The German Ifo survey for August was underwhelming,” National Australia Bank said.
“Both the headline and the detail disappointed expectations already set for a pull-back,” it said in a note.
“This only adds weight to the market’s expectation that annual growth will ease.”
Adding downward pressure were comments from ECB head Mario Draghi, who expressed confidence that measures were in place to ward off any threat of deflation but that the lender would ensure it did not take hold, implying a possible injection of funds.
The dollar was mostly lower against other Asia-Pacific currencies.
It inched down to Sg$1.2503 from Sg$1.2506 on Monday, to 31.93 Thai baht from 32.01 baht and to 11,710.10 Indonesian rupiah from 11,715.30 rupiah.
The greenback eased to 1,017.04 South Korean won from 1,019.90 won, to 43.81 Philippine pesos from 43.83 pesos and to Tw$29.96 from Tw$29.97.
The dollar edged up to 60.48 Indian rupees from 60.43 rupees.
The Australian dollar slipped to 92.89 US cents from 93.17 cents, while the Chinese yuan eased to 16.84 yen from 16.94 yen.
