The dollar rose against the euro in Asian trade on Wednesday after Democrat Barack Obama was elected US president, raising hopes of fresh action to tackle the economic slump.

The euro fell to 1.2868 dollars in early afternoon trade in Tokyo, compared with 1.2942 in the morning.

The dollar was little changed at 99.67 yen against 99.76.

Obama is expected to `bring change to the country amid an unprecedented crisis,` said Saburo Matsumoto, chief forex strategist at Sumitomo Trust Bank.

`Even if economic figures and sentiment remain grim, markets still have high expectations for the policies that he will iron out from January,` he added.

Obama, 47, will be inaugurated as the 44th US president on January 20 and inherit an economy mired in the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.