HONG KONG: The euro fell in Asian trade on Wednesday and shares were mixed after eurozone finance chiefs said they had failed to agree on a deal to unlock the latest batch of crucial bailout cash for Greece.Ministers said in a statement at the end of talks that ended in the small hours that they would meet again next Monday "for further technical work on some elements of the package".
The news sent the euro diving from recent highs against the yen, while it also lost almost a US cent from its intra-day peak against the dollar.
In afternoon trade the single currency bought $1.2753 and 104.37 yen, after hitting $1.2820 and 105.07 yen ahead of the announcement from Brussels.
It had finished in New York Tuesday at $1.2818 and 104.70 yen.
The dollar, which had touched a seven-month high of 81.97 yen in the morning, bought 81.81 yen.
Traders were left disappointed as they had been buying the euro on expectations an agreement would be made in Brussels, while Jean-Claude Juncker, who presides over the Eurogroup has said there were "good chances of an agreement".
However, the meeting ended with a statement saying only that they "made progress in identifying a consistent package of credible initiatives aimed at making a further substantial contribution to the sustainability of Greek government debt".
"It was progress but we have to do a little bit more," International Monetary Fund (IMF) boss Christine Lagarde told reporters as she left the meeting.
The major sticking point had been whether to give Greece, which is in desperate need of the $40 billion handout, an extra two years to arrive at a point where it can raise its own funds.
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