Euro under pressure in Asia

TOKYO, Jan 23 (AFP) :  The euro was on Friday close to its lowest levels in more than a decade after the European Central Bank launched a vast bond-buying programme aimed at kickstarting the eurozone economy.
The single currency-which hit an 11-year low of $1.1316 after the announcement Thursday-bought $1.1342 in Tokyo afternoon trade. That is down from $1.1359 late in New York and well off the levels above $1.16 seen earlier Thursday in Asia.
It also fell to 134.25 yen, against 134.63 yen in US trade and 136.80 yen Thursday in Tokyo.
The dollar edged down to 118.35 yen against 118.52 yen in New York.
The ECB said it would inject 60 billion euros a month into financial markets from March until September 2016, a programme known as quantitative easing (QE). Analysts had been expecting it to buy 50 billion euros a month.
The move came after the region's inflation turned negative in December, stoking fears that the 19-nation eurozone is on the brink of a dangerous deflationary spiral.
Analysts said the single currency could weaken further as the ECB announcement underscores a growing policy divergence with the US Federal Reserve.