Euro falls amid continuing Greek debt worries

TOKYO — The euro fell in Asian trade on Thursday as investors grew concerned over a deal to provide much-needed bailout cash to Greece, while the Australian dollar surged on strong jobs data.

The European unit bought $1.3021 and 102.06 yen in Tokyo morning trade Thursday, compared with $1.3065 and 102.47 yen in New York late Wednesday.

The dollar traded at 78.38 yen against 78.43 in New York.

The euro will likely stay under pressure unless there is further progress on a second bailout and private debt restructuring for Greece, said Sumino Kamei, senior analyst at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

“The market’s greatest concern is about what’s going to happen on March 20” when a 14.5 billion euro debt repayment is due, she said, adding she was pessimistic that appropriate measures will be taken by then.

Eurozone ministers told Greece Wednesday it must accept tough European Union surveillance if it is to close the stalled bailout deal by next week, despite meeting key conditions.

The Australian dollar rallied to 107.38 US cents from 106.81 and to 84.26 yen from 83.83 yen soon after data showed a surprise drop in Australian January unemployment to 5.1 percent, after 46,300 jobs were created.