Euro slips vs dollar

LONDON (AFP) - The euro sank against the dollar on Monday as traders eagerly awaited a crunch meeting of eurozone finance ministers that was expected to address the Greek debt crisis, analysts said.
In late morning deals here, the European single currency dipped to 1.3713 dollars, from 1.3761 late in New York on Friday. Against the Japanese currency, the dollar edged up to 90.69 yen from 90.52 yen on Friday.
Later Monday, Greece will top the agenda at a crucial meeting of eurozone finance ministers. Talks kick off in Brussels at 1600 GMT.
Over the weekend, British newspapers reported that the ministers were expected to agree a potential bailout of debt-plagued Greece to avoid the crisis infecting the rest of the eurozone.
Ahead of todays Eurogroup meeting and tomorrows meeting of the EU Ministers of Finance there was renewed speculation about an aid packet for Greece (and possibly some other countries), said Commerzbank analyst Antje Praefcke.
The positions remain the same as they had been over the past few weeks; while France signals that aid will be paid, Germany rules out any impending decision while Greece underlines that it has not asked for help and will consolidate its budget on its own accord. This relatively successful 'division of labour has allowed foreign exchange markets to settle somewhat recently.
Finance ministers from the 16 eurozone countries were also expected to argue over longer-term ways of helping member economies in trouble, for example through emergency loans and a new European monetary fund.
The Greek crisis has caused severe strains for the eurozone and therefore for the wider European Union and has forced the Greek government to announce enormous budget cuts and reforms of its economy. The euro also fell on Monday as weaker global shares prompted some investors to sell the risk-sensitive currency to take profits on its recent rise, analysts said.
Share prices were lower amid stubborn worries over fresh credit-tightening measures by Beijing.
The Bank of Japan, meanwhile, meets Tuesday and policymakers are widely expected to discuss further monetary easing to fight deflation.
In the United States the Federal Reserves policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee will gather on Tuesday. Many investors believe there will be no policy change.
In London on Monday, the euro was changing hands at 1.3713 dollars against 1.3761 dollars on Friday, at 124.37 yen (124.59), 0.9115 pounds (0.9058) and 1.4545 Swiss francs (1.4563).
The dollar stood at 90.69 yen (90.52) and 1.0677 Swiss francs (1.0581).
The pound was at 1.5044 dollars (1.5189).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold fell to 1,104.30 dollars an ounce from 1,106.25 dollars an ounce on Friday.