Updated on
Summary The dollar bought 41.47 Philippine pesos from 41.63 pesos.
The euro jumped to a four-month high against the dollar in Asian trade on Wednesday, just hours before a German court was to issue a ruling on the legality of the eurozone bailout fund.The common currency spiked at $1.2876 in Tokyo afternoon trade as dealers bet on a positive outcome, up from $1.2848 in New York late Tuesday and its highest level since mid-May. The unit also bought 100.28 yen from 99.88 yen.The court ruling Wednesday on the constitutionality of the eurozones rescue fund was expected to clear the way for the bailout mechanism, which was set up to help indebted members of the 17-nation bloc.The Constitutional Court is to decide at 0800 GMT whether German President Joachim Gauck can sign into law the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the European fiscal pact, which both sailed through German parliament at the end of June with a two-thirds majority.A favourable ruling means the euro currency club will have fresh flexibility to deploy 500 billion euros ($630 billion) to support its weakest members, with immediate attention focused on struggling Spain.Several legal challenges have held up the ratification of the ESM and fiscal treaty in Germany, preventing them from being put into force.The court challenge argued that the ESM rescue fund and the fiscal pact are incompatible with Germanys Basic Law.The ESM is set to replace the temporary European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and should have been in place by July 1.But it needs Germanys share of the rescue money to function.The critics argue that the two crisis-fighting tools are unconstitutional because they irreversibly delegate national sovereignty to the European level and interfere with parliaments right to draw up budgets.The dollar, meanwhile, bought 77.88 yen in Tokyo trade, from 77.73 yen in US trade where the greenback had earlier touched 77.71 yen, its lowest level in about three months.The US Federal Reserve starts a two-day policy meeting later Wednesday as traders look for signs the central bank will launch another round of bond-buying known as quantitative easing to boost the worlds biggest economy.Such measures tend to weigh on the greenback, which was also sold in New York on Tuesday after Moodys said it might strip the United States of its triple-A rating if Congress fails to cut the federal debt burden.The warning came a year after Standard & Poors took away the countrys top-notch mark.The greenback slipped against other Asia-Pacific currencies.It weakened to 30.92 Thai baht from 31.10 baht on Tuesday, to 55.23 Indian rupees from 55.47 rupees and to Tw$29.59 from Tw$29.70.The unit also fell to 9,574 Indonesian rupiah from 9,587 rupiah, to 1,125.50 South Korean won from 1,128.90 and to Sg$1.2280 from Sg$1.2345.The dollar bought 41.47 Philippine pesos from 41.63 pesos.Chinas yuan traded at 12.30 yen against 12.31 yen while the Australian dollar was at $1.0479 against $1.0336.
