The euro edged up in Asia on Wednesday, supported by positive expectations over the European Central Bank's second batch of low-interest loans to eurozone banks.
The single currency fetched $1.3482 in Tokyo afternoon trade, compared with $1.3466 in New York late Tuesday. Against the yen, the euro was unchanged at 108.34.
"There is a strong sense of anticipation," a senior trader at a major Japanese trust bank said as the market awaited a flood of new loans to eurozone banks from the ECB's long-term refinancing operation (LTRO).
The bank, in the second such operation in two months, is offering to lend as much money as eurozone banks want at a rock-bottom interest rate of 1.0 percent for a period of three years.
The operation is aimed at averting a credit squeeze in the 17-nation single-currency area.
