Euro remains weak amid Spanish worries

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The euro remained weak in Asia on Thursday with investors seeking refuge in the safe-haven yen as anti-austerity protests in Spain and Greece raised fresh concerns over the eurozone debt crisis.

The euro bought $1.2877 and 100.00 in Tokyo morning trade, compared with $1.2870 and 100.04 yen late Wednesday in New York where the common currency lost ground amid risk aversion.

The dollar changed hands at 77.66 yen against 77.70 yen in US trade.

The euro was weak but traders seemed reluctant to sell the currency aggressively against the yen amid lingering expectations that Spain will formally request a bailout, said a senior dealer at a Japanese bank.

"While the topside remains limited, we need further euro-negative factors to push it down below $1.2830 around the 200-day moving averages," the dealer told Dow Jones Newswires.

Citibank Japan chief strategist Osamu Takashima said a risk-off mode continued in the currency market after European bond markets fell on Wednesday and global stock markets have a sense of hitting their peaks.

Tensions over harsh austerity and stalling bailout programmes have spilled into the streets of Spain and Greece.

Thousands of protestors rallied near the Spanish parliament for a second straight night Wednesday after a rough day on the markets again raised the spectre of a full bailout and deeper economic pain.

The government is due to pass its 2013 austerity budget on Thursday, with 39 billion euros ($50 billion) in savings, including an anticipated third straight year of salary freezes for civil servants.

In Athens police and masked youths clashed during a nationwide strike in protest at a new round of austerity cuts introduced in return for crucial loans from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.