The euro jumped against major currencies late in Asia Monday after the European Central Bank launched its second intervention in just three days, but immediately gave up its gains.
Traders in Tokyo warned that the ECB's solo intervention, following one on Friday, would do little to buttress the common European currency over the longer term.
The euro traded at 0.8687 dollars around 5:30 pm (0830 GMT) in Tokyo, little higher than 0.8658 at 2:00 pm and 0.8664 dollars in New York late Friday.
The euro rose to a high of 0.8732 dollars immediately after the intervention, which came in European trading around 5:00 pm Tokyo time, compared with 0.8660 dollars immediately before.
"The market was surprised by the intervention," Chase Manhattan Bank dealer Tatsuo Nishio said.
"But the effect was limited because it was a unilateral intervention, not a concerted effort with Japan and the United States," he said.
Against the yen, the euro jumped as high as 93.40 on the intervention compared with 92.80 just before. But by 5:30 pm it was back down to 93.08 yen, against 92.87 at 2:00 pm and 92.63 in New York Friday.
"The intervention is unlikely to boost the currency to 88 or 89 cents because the economy in the euro zone is fundamentally weak compared with the US economy," Asahi Bank dealer Shigeru Nakane said.
Fuji Bank dealer Yoshiyasu Naruse also cast doubt on the lasting benefits of the latest intervention, given that "the ECB made a unilateral intervention on its own initiative."
The ECB intervened on its own on Friday to support the ailing euro, lifting the currency up close to 88 cents. But it lost all of its earlier gains, tumbling below 86 cents before rallying on fresh intervention rumors.
That move was only the second ECB intervention since the euro's January 1999 launch, following concerted action taken with the United States and Japan on September 22.
But Mizuho Trust and Banking dealer Kazuhiro Kaneko noted that the euro had been steadily recovering from a historic low of 0.8237 dollars reached on October 26, and said it had room to rise further.
The dollar meanwhile bought 107.13 yen, up from 106.93 yen in New York Friday.
"The dollar is being bought on bargain-hunting after it languished against the yen last week," said Fuji Bank dealer Hideyuki Tsukamoto.
In late Singapore trade, the US dollar eased to 1.7316 Singapore dollars from 1.7343 last Friday, 43.335 Thai baht from 43.635, 32.154 Taiwan dollars from 32.197, and 1,132.55 South Korean won from 1,133.60.
It advanced to 9,160 Indonesian rupiah from 9,127.50, but fell to 48.375 Philippine pesos from 51.05 -- TOKYO (AFP)
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