* Yen briefly falls below 95 yen per dlr, 1-wk low
* Dollar holds ground on hopes for U.S. recovery
* June euro zone new orders up 3.1 pct m/m, beats forecasts
(Updates prices)
By Tamawa Desai
LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The yen slid versus both the dollar and euro on Monday as gains in equities boosted risk sentiment, steering investors towards higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar.
The market refocused on risk-taking after Friday's stronger-than-expected U.S. existing home sales data and upbeat comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
The low-yielding yen tends to fall against higher-yielding currencies when equities rise or economic data strengthens hopes for a recovery in the global economy.
But the dollar, which usually also declines when risk sentiment picks up, held its ground against some major currencies.
"The dollar is holding up quite well which tends to suggest risk reward is gradually moving in favour of long-dollar positions on expectations for a stronger U.S. recovery," said Lee Hardman, currency economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
By 1058 GMT, the dollar was up 0.5 percent against the yen on the day at 94.85 yen, after briefly hitting a one-week high of 95.06 yen, according to Reuters data. It hit a one-month low of 93.42 yen on trading platform EBS on Friday.
The euro was up 0.4 percent at 135.74 yen.
Nonetheless, central bankers at a conference in Jackson Hole over the weekend warned against exiting too early from loose monetary policies.
"The message is that rates would remain low and liquidity would remain ample, so swings in risk appetite remain a major factor for major currency pairs," said Michael Klawitter, currency strategist at Commerzbank.
The euro pared losses against the dollar after euro zone industrial orders came in much higher than expected.
Euro zone industrial orders rose 3.1 percent in June from the previous month, beating forecasts for a 1.5 percent gain.
The euro was flat on the day at $1.4308.
European shares were up 0.5 percent by midday trade.
Traders are keen to see how the euro zone economy fares, especially after higher-than-expected purchasing managers' index readings last week. Germany's Ifo survey will be closely-watched this week, analysts said.
U.S. data will also be in focus. The Conference Board will release its August consumer confidence index on Tuesday and Reuters/University of Michigan will report on its late August snapshot of consumer sentiment on Friday.
U.S. new home sales, durable goods orders and revised second-quarter gross domestic product are all due out this week.
Signs of some stabilisation in Chinese equities also supported higher-yielding currencies. Shanghai Composite Index ended 1.1 percent higher.
The Australian dollar rose 0.7 percent to 79.66 yen while it gained 0.6 percent versus the U.S. dollar to stand at $0.8402. (Editing by Stephen Nisbet and Lin Noueihed)