The euro recovered from an afternoon sell-off in Asian trade Wednesday while shares ended mixed after eurozone finance chiefs said they had failed to agree a deal to unlock crucial bailout cash for Greece.
Ministers said in a statement at the end of talks in Brussels that ended in the small hours that they would meet again next Monday "for further technical work on some elements of the package".
The news sent the euro diving from recent highs against the yen, while it also lost almost a US cent from its intra-day peak against the dollar although the unit mostly recovered towards the end of Asian trade.
In Tokyo the single currency bought $1.2760 and 104.72 yen before recovering to $1.2760 and 104.72 yen later in Asia. In early European trade it improved further to $1.2786 and 105.120.
It had finished in New York Tuesday at $1.2818 and 104.70 yen.
The dollar climbed to a seven-month high of 82.05 yen, from 81.67 yen in New York.
Traders were left disappointed as they had been buying the euro on expectations an agreement would be made in Brussels, while Jean-Claude Juncker, who presides over the Eurogroup has said there were "good chances of an agreement".
But the meeting ended with a statement saying only that they "made progress in identifying a consistent package of credible initiatives aimed at making a further substantial contribution to the sustainability of Greek ... debt".
"It was progress but we have to do a little bit more," International Monetary Fund (IMF) boss Christine Lagarde told reporters as she left the meeting.
Later, French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici looked to soothe worries by telling Europe 1 radio that ministers "are a whisker away from a deal and I am very confident that we will reach one".
The major sticking point had been whether to give Greece, which is in desperate need of the $40 billion handout, an extra two years to arrive at a point where it can raise its own funds.
Juncker had called for that option but Lagarde very publicly disagreed.
Asian markets were also hit by the news, with earlier big gains pared back or wiped out completely.
Tokyo closed up 0.87 percent, or 79.88 points to 9,222.52, Sydney fell 0.37 percent, or 16.2 points, to close at 4,369.5, while Seoul lost 0.32 percent, or 6.14 points, to end at 1,884.04.
But Hong Kong ended much higher as the initial shock wore off. The index surged 1.39 percent, or 296.08 points, to 21,524.36, while Shanghai, which slumped to a four-year low intra-day, bounced back to close 1.07 percent higher, adding 21.40 points to 2,030.32.
Investors had been buoyed by confidence the United States will avoid a fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts and that Greece will get its bailout, while Tokyo's climb was fuelled by a weaker yen.
The yen had been under pressure after the Bank of Japan held off further monetary easing on Tuesday but signalled fresh action could be in the pipeline after saying the economy remained weak.
The currency has weakened since last week, when the man likely to become prime minister after next month's general election said he would push for unlimited loosening monetary policy by the central bank.
There was more gloom for the Japanese economy on Wednesday as finance ministry data showed October's trade deficit nearly doubled to 549 billion yen ($6.7 billion) from a year ago, coming on top of weakening factory output.
On Wall Street, the three main indexes all ended flat on weak corporate news.
However, there was support from the Commerce Department, which said home construction rose again in October following September's strong surge, a further sign of recovery in the crucial housing market.
Housing starts rose 3.6 percent from October, surprising analysts who had expected a fall after September's jump.
Oil prices also saw their earlier rises clipped before rising again. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, were up 26 cents at $87.01 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for January delivery added 32 cents to $110.15.
Gold was at $1,726.55 at 1030 GMT compared with $1,733.45 late Tuesday.
In other markets:
-- Taipei fell 0.80 percent, or 57.28 points, to 7,088.49.
Hon Hai Precision slid 0.89 percent to Tw$89.1 while TSMC was 0.11 percent higher at Tw$90.5.
-- Manila closed 0.61 percent higher, adding 33.60 points to 5,534.18.
Banco de Oro Unibank was up 1.32 percent to 69.20 pesos while Empire East Land Inc. rose 3.26 percent to 95 centavos.
-- Wellington closed flat, edging down 1.74 points to 3,971.23.
Telecom fell 1.7 percent to NZ$2.34 while Fletcher Building gained 1.1 percent to NZ$7.73.
-- Singapore closed up 0.05 percent, or 1.48 points, at 2,960.30.
Olam International was up 5.28 percent to Sg$1.70 and Jardine Cycle and Carriage gained 0.38 percent to Sg$47.08.
-- Jakarta ended up 0.11 percent, or 4.91 points, at 4,317.28.
Cigarette firm Gudang Garam rose 2.68 percent to 47,850 rupiah while retailer Hero Supermarket climbed 2.5 percent to 4,100 rupiah.
-- Kuala Lumpur shares ended down 1.23 points, or 0.08 percent, to end at 1,622.97.
British American Tobacco lost 1.8 percent to 57.48 ringgit, YTL shed 1.7 percent to 1.70 while Petronas Chemicals rose 1.4 percent to 6.40.
-- Bangkok closed flat, down 0.02 points, at 1,276.39.
Siam Cement dropped 0.51 percent to 390.00 baht, while coal producer Banpu gained 0.27 percent to 365.00 baht.
-- Mumbai rose 0.72 percent, or 131.06 points, to 18,460.38 points on Wednesday.
India's private carrier Jet Airways jumped 9.2 percent to 451.5 rupees while retail firm Pantaloon Retail rose 4.62 percent to 188 rupees.