Weak data undermines the euro Uncertainty dominated the major currencies on Monday as investors maintained their weary watch over Greece amid unimpressive economic data. The euro dipped against the dollar, to $1.3189, as fears over the level of participation by private investors in Greece's debt restructuring on Thursday dulled risk appetite and investors held fire ahead of the wealth of data due later in the week. Investment banks said investors were taking profits on risky assets following a strong start to the year. "More profit-taking on long risk positions may be on the cards in the very near term," said Valentin Marinov, analyst at Citigroup. The euro and risk-correlated currencies could struggle to perform as a result. However, the single currency was slightly stronger against the pound, rising 0.1 per cent to £0.8335, even as purchasing managers" index data for the eurozone signalled a slide back into contraction, albeit with sharp differences between the core and peripherary and between services and manufacturing. Data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed that speculators trimmed their short positions on the single currency again in the week to February 28. The data also showed traders taking short positions on the yen against the dollar for the first time since May last year. Analysts said investment and budgetary decisions made at the end of the fiscal year in Japan by life companies and corporates over the next 10 days would be an important factor affecting sentiment on the yen in the medium term. "If their budget plans suggest continued caution, the dollar/yen could start to drift back lower again," said Derek Halpenny at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi. The Japanese yen was the biggest winner heading into the week. The euro lost 0.7 per cent against the Japanese currency, to trade at Y107.11, while the dollar fell 0.6 per cent against yen, to Y81.28. The Russian rouble traded flat against both the dollar and the euro as investors took stock following Vladimir Putin's putative victory in Sunday's presidential election. The rouble was worth Rbs29.335 per dollar and Rbs38.68 per euro in early trading. China's currency, lost 0.1 per cent against the dollar to trade at Rmb6.3042 after China said it would target growth of 7.5 per cent as the government seeks to overhaul the country's "unbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable" development model. It is the first time since 2004 that the annual target has dropped below 8 per cent. The Australian dollar fell back on the news, losing 1.3 per cent against the yen to trade at Y86.66 and shedding 0.6 per cent against the US dollar to $1.0675. Australia's commodity-dependent economy would be hard hit by a serious Chinese slowdown. The New Zealand dollar followed its neighbour down. It lost 1.1 per cent against the US dollar to $0.8216 and 1.7 per cent against the yen, to Y66.78. While the Norwegian krone lost another 0.3 per cent against the dollar to NKr5.6295, further eroding its gains since the start of the year. However, the Nokkie is still up 5.8 per cent against the greenback in 2012.