The euro eased against the dollar in Asia on Monday after rising on speculation of a near-term interest rate hike in Europe, with the outcome of weekend G20 talks having little impact, dealers said.
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The euro, which surged over the weekend after a top ECB official hinted that an interest rate rise could be in the pipeline, fetched $1.3676 in Tokyo afternoon trade, compared with $1.3691 in New York late Friday.
The euro also traded at 113.66 yen against 113.92 in New York, after rising briefly in Asia to 113.97 yen, the highest rate since January 27.
The dollar changed hands at 83.12 yen, almost flat from New York.
The euro got a boost Friday after European Central Bank board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi suggested policy makers were honing in on the inflation threat, raising the prospect of a rate rise that could draw investors to higher interest.
The market showed little reaction to the outcome of a meeting of the Group of 20 developed and developing countries in Paris that agreed which economic indicators to use to evaluate and tackle the economic imbalances at the heart of the global crisis.
"The weekend\'s G20 meeting was something of a damp squib," said National Australia Bank strategist John Kyriakopoulos.
"G20 finance ministers hashed out an agreement on how to measure global imbalances, but didn\'t go far as to set numerical targets for such.
"Indicators such as public debt, fiscal deficits, private savings, and the trade balance will all be used. However, China prevented the addition of currency reserves and exchange rates to the list," he said in a note.
China\'s monetary tightening had no major impact.
"There was almost no lasting reaction to China\'s decision to hike banks\' reserve requirements," Kyriakopoulos said.
China\'s central bank said Friday it would raise the amount of money banks must keep in reserve as it looks to curb lending, in the latest in a series of moves aimed at bringing high inflation under control.
The dollar was mixed against other Asian currencies.
It fell to Sg$1.2747 from Sg$1.2752 on Friday and to 30.55 Thai baht from 30.61.
The unit rose to 1,118.05 Korean won from 1,111.90, to Tw$29.37 from Tw$29.33, to 43.45 Philippine pesos from 43.34, and to 8,847.50 Indonesian rupiah from 8,845.50.
