TOKYO -- The dollar slid against the euro and the yen on Thursday, hurt by lingering uncertainty over the US government's proposed $700 billion bank bailout plan and worries about the impact of the credit crunch on the economy.

In an attempt to persuade Americans to support the Wall Street rescue package, President George W. Bush warned on Wednesday that the United States was in the middle of a serious financial crisis that could push the economy into recession.

Bush will meet Republican and Democratic leaders of the US Congress at 1955 GMT on Thursday to hammer out details of a rescue plan, the White House said.

Bush's comments came after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday said "extraordinary stress" in financial markets was threatening an already weak US economy, urging lawmakers to support the bailout package.

"The sense of panic in the market is receding thanks to steps by the US government, as well as private enterprises," said Tsutomu Soma, senior manager of foreign assets at Okasan Securities.

"But investors remain reluctant to buy the dollar as they are concerned about the US economy," Soma said.

The euro rose 0.6 percent from late US trade to $1.4698, well above the day's low of $1.4603 hit on trading platform EBS in early Asian trade.

The dollar index, which tracks the US currency's performance against six major currencies, was down 0.5 percent at 76.590.

The dollar climbed the previous day, with investor confidence in the US currency reviving a little after reports that billionaire Warren Buffett would invest $5 billion in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and that the Federal Reserve had set up currency swap lines with more central banks.

But that was offset by fears that congressional wrangling could delay the financial rescue plan or lead to it being watered down.

The market's main points of concern are comments from top US officials, the details of the bailout package, and how soon Congress will pass it, said Mitsuru Sahara, senior manager of foreign exchange sales for Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

"We may have to wait until the next release of the US monthly employment data in early October before seeing the market reacting to economic data again," Sahara said.

The dollar dipped 0.4 percent against the yen to 105.79 yen despite Japanese data showing the country's trade balance swung into a deficit in August for the first time since January as exports slowed and import costs rose.

The trade data added to worries over the world's second-largest economy amid fears of recession and the effect of financial market upheaval.

Bank of Japan policy board member Tadao Noda said on Thursday that the Japanese economy was unlikely to fall into a deep downturn as the country is more resilient to downside risks to the economy than in previous downturns.

Speaking to business leaders in northern Japan, Noda also said the Japanese financial system and markets remained stable compared with Europe and the United States.

But his comments had little impact on currencies.

Traders said Japanese exporters selling before the quarter ends later this month sent the dollar lower against the yen.

Other market players, however, retreated to the sidelines, shunning risk due to market turmoil in the past few weeks as the US financial crisis deepened.

Trouble in the US financial sector went from bad to worse this month, highlighted by last week's collapse of Lehman Brothers and the $85-billion rescue of American International Group Inc.

"Trading volume has thinned in the past one to two weeks to the lowest levels in the decade," Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi's Sahara said. The euro was up 0.2 percent to 155.50 yen.