Euro flat as Greece nears rescue deal

TOKYO: The euro was little changed in Asia on Friday as crisis-hit Greece edged closer to a bailout deal, while the dollar's fate hung on key US economic data coming later in the day, analysts said.

The euro bought $1.3242 dollars in quiet Tokyo afternoon trade, compared with $1.3244 dollars in New York late Thursday, and 124.55 yen against 124.46.

The dollar was trading at 94.04 yen compared with 94.07 in New York.

With investor concerns over the eurozone easing, attention is now focusing on the dollar "with the market looking at the macroeconomy and its recovery", said Hideaki Inoue, senior dealer at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp.

Investors "won't be able to drive the dollar down until employment data next week, which will give them an important clue on how the US economy is faring", he said. US jobs data for April are to be released on May 7.

Markets were looking ahead to the announcement of first-quarter US gross domestic product figures later Friday.

Fears over debt-laden Greece and the fiscal health of the eurozone hammered markets earlier in the week, but concerns have eased on expectations that marathon talks on a rescue package will soon conclude.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said Thursday that the crunch talks with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to determine the size of a bailout loan will be completed "in coming days".

A barrage of economic data released in Japan early Friday had little impact on currency rates, Inoue said.

Financial markets in Tokyo will be closed from Monday to Wednesday next week due to national holidays.

Against other Asian currencies, the dollar fell to 31.37 Taiwan dollars from 31.43 Thursday, to 9,007.50 Indonesian rupiah from 9,027.50, and to 44.55 Philippine pesos from 44.62.

The greenback also fell to 1,108.50 South Korean won from 1,114.85, and to 1.3677 Singapore dollars from 1.3728, while edging up to 32.34 Thai baht from 32.33.