17 June 2005, 12:29  The US dollar ended the Asian session down slightly against the euro

The US dollar ended the Asian session down slightly against the euro, but retained a firm tone after trading in narrow ranges ahead of the end of the EU summit today. The euro was at 1.2128 usd, up from 1.2103 usd just over three hours earlier in Tokyo. The dollar was at 108.83 yen, down from 108.89 yen in Tokyo earlier. The EU summit in Brussels is hoping to resolve two main issues: whether to proceed with future referendums on the EU constitution in other countries, after voters in France and the Netherlands rejected it; and the debate about the 2008-2013 EU budget.Concerns about disagreement over the budget and the future of the constitution continued to weigh on the euro throughout the Asian session, dealers said. The dollar was stuck in a narrow range against the yen as players focused on the euro and with some uncertainty over the dollar's direction after a slew of weak US economic data, they said. US current account data for the first quarter are due later today, followed by preliminary University of Michigan consumer sentiment data for June. "With sentiment stacked so heavily against the euro, a positive outcome from the US economic releases is expected to be welcome news for the dollar, whereas negative data is likely to be shrugged off yet again," said Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi economist here, Wong Keng Siong.

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