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FOREX-Dollar steady, yen gains as risk positions trimmed

Published 10/27/2009, 10:06 PM
Updated 10/27/2009, 10:09 PM
MFG
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* Euro/dollar support seen around $1.4772

* Aussie briefly gains after Q3 CPI rises more than expected

* Drop in Treasury yields reduces dollar's appeal vs yen

TOKYO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - The dollar held gains against a basket of currencies on Wednesday while the yen rose as investors trimmed stretched pro-risk positions in higher yielding currencies as stocks fell on weaker than expected U.S. data.

The Australian dollar briefly jumped after data showed Australia's consumer price index for the third quarter rose more than expected, but it soon shed gains on profit-taking as the data was not strong enough to bolster rate hike expectations, dealers said.

Michael Blythe, chief economist at Commonwealth Bank, said the inflation reading of 1.3 percent was a touch higher than expected and consistent with the idea the central bank would lift rates at its board meeting next week.

"I would say the outcome is probably more in line with a 25 basis point move than a 50 point move," Blythe said.

The Australian dollar rose as high as $0.9208 after the CPI data but later the Aussie traded around $0.9150, down 0.2 percent on the day.

Australian short-end swaps showed a roughly 20 percent chance of a 50 basis point hike next week soon after CPI, down from about 25 percent chance beforehand.

The euro dropped to a two-week low against the dollar on Tuesday as investors continued to trim euro long positions on the view that the pace of its recent rise had been too fast and after disappointing U.S. consumer confidence figures prompted investors to cut back long positions in assets such as higher-yielding currencies.

"It's a continuation of the correction of the euro rather than risk aversion," said Kazuyuki Kato, treasury department manager at Mizuho Trust & Banking.

The euro was at $1.4806, little changed from late U.S. trade on Tuesday, when it fell as far as $1.4769 on trading platform EBS, a two-week low. The euro hit a 14-month high of $1.5064 on Monday.

The dollar index, a gauge of its performance against six major currencies, was steady at 76.151 after touching a two-week high of 76.328 on Tuesday.

The yen rose, with traders saying the market was now more sensitive to news which encouraged them to cut risk positions.

A trader for a Japanese bank cited profit-taking in dollar/yen by short-term overseas players, and dollar/yen and euro/yen selling by Japanese players, probably exporters, in particular because Wednesday is the last day for trades to be settled by the month-end.

Against the yen, the euro fell 0.3 percent to 135.52 yen, pulling back from a more than two-month high of 138.49 yen hit on EBS on Monday.

The dollar dipped 0.3 percent to 91.49 yen, retreating from a one-month high of 92.33 yen hit on EBS the previous day. (Additional reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Editing by Michael Watson)

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