Euro recovers, dollar dips but euro zone woes remainEuropean shares rise 0.7 percent, off 3-month lows
Investors sceptical of G7 assurance on Greece
(Updates prices; changes byline, dateline; previous TOKYO)
By Jessica Mortimer
LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The euro edged up against the dollar on Monday, recovering after recent losses but still close to multi-month lows on concerns about the fiscal health of some euro zone countries.
Traders said investors were disappointed the weekend's Group of Seven meeting did not result in concrete action to tackle the sovereign debt issues of countries such as Greece, Portugal and Spain.
European ministers told their counterparts at a G7 meeting they would ensure Greece sticks to its budget-cutting plan, but analysts said more was needed to restore confidence the problems could not upset the global economic recovery.
The euro recovered a little on Monday, however, as investor aversion to risk eased, with European equities up 0.7 percent, rebounding from three-month lows the previous session and helped by stronger commodity prices.
"Euro/dollar and some other riskier currencies are slightly higher, so perhaps we have a little bit of consolidation for now, but it is very much open. The market is looking for what kind of reassurances may come with regard to the euro zone deficit situation and any statements will continue to have an impact," said Johan Javeus, SEB currency analyst in Stockholm.
"The late rally in the U.S. on Friday (in the euro and riskier assets) was partly on hopes that there would be more tangible suggestions from the G7 meeting for a solution, and in that sense the statement was a bit disappointing," he said.
By 0841 GMT, the euro edged up 0.2 percent on the day to $1.3694, more than a cent above an 8 1/2-month low of $1.3585 hit on trading platform EBS on Friday.
The single European currency has shed around 10 percent from a 15-month high of $1.5145 hit in late November, as jitters about the fiscal problems in Greece spreading to Portugal and then to Spain intensified.
The U.S. dollar also pushed lower, with the dollar index down 0.3 percent at 80.170. However, it was not far from a high of 80.683 hit on Friday, its strongest since July 2009.
Among perceived higher-risk currencies, the Australian dollar rose 0.3 percent to $0.8698 while the New Zealand dollar rose 0.5 percent to $0.6908.
The yen also cut some of its earlier gains, which came as investors looked to buy the low-yielding currency as a safe-haven trade. The dollar rose 0.2 percent at 89.45 yen and the euro was up 0.4 percent at 122.53 yen.
The euro dropped as low as 120.70 yen on Friday, its weakest in about a year.
U.S. jobs data on Friday underscored improvement in the labour market, but analysts said it did not pack enough punch to give a strong boost to risk appetite. This kept growth-linked currencies on the defensive against the yen.
"Market players think the yen might weaken in the longer term, but that trend has not taken hold yet," said Akira Hoshino, chief manager at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ's foreign exchange trading department in Tokyo.
"We will not see that kind of market unless market players start taking on risk and building up their positions," he said.
(Additional reporting by Masayuki Kitano in Tokyo)
