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Dollar dips as risk aversion eases on stocks bounce

Published 11/11/2008, 10:14 PM
Updated 11/11/2008, 10:16 PM
BAC
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* Euro hits 2-wk low vs yen,dlr but bounces on stocks rebound

* Nikkei almost unchanged after sliding more than 2 pct

By Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO, Nov 12 (Reuters) - The dollar and yen dipped against the euro and the high-yielding Australian dollar on Wednesday as investor aversion toward risk assets eased slightly due to a rebound in regional stocks.

The yen touched a two-week high against the euro earlier as investor appetite for risky assets waned on an initial slip in regional stocks.

The dollar also touched a two-week high against the euro on global recession concerns.

Tokyo's Nikkei share average fell more than 2 percent before trimming losses to 0.3 percent, hurt earlier by concerns about the health of the global economy that were worsened by a string of dismal U.S. company news.

Market players said the yen and dollar still stand to gain in the longer term with worries over a global recession likely to keep up pressure on carry trades, in which low-yielding currencies like the yen are used to buy assets in higher-yielding ones.

"The yen is a key market driver in an environment of risk aversion," said a trader at a European bank.

The dollar was little changed from late New York trade on Tuesday at 99.74 yen after dipping to 97.15 yen.

The euro edged up 0.3 percent to $1.2563 after touching a two-week low of $1.2477.

Against the yen, the euro climbed 0.3 percent to 122.76 yen on trading platform EBS after hitting 121.23 yen, the lowest since late October.

The Australian dollar rose 0.9 percent to $0.6613. Against the Japanese currency, the Aussie gained 0.4 percent to 64.62 yen.

The dollar and yen have been confined to a relatively narrow 96-100 yen range in November as the pair have both appreciated against their peers amid the global risk aversion.

In the near term, analysts say the yen could gain against the dollar if Japanese investors pull out of U.S. hedge funds and repatriate funds home.

"A downturn in stocks brought by trouble in the financial sector is a candidate as the most likely factor to determine the dollar's direction against the yen," said Tomoko Fujii, head of economics and strategy at the Bank of America in Tokyo.

Monetary policy is not a major factor for the dollar and the yen as interest rate differentials between the United States and Japan have become negligible, Fujii said.

The Bank of Japan reduced interest rates to 0.30 percent in October and those in the United States stand at 1 percent.

The euro has been pressured by growing evidence from the euro zone that the economy there is already in recession.

Market players said the dollar and yen were unlikely to gain too sharply before a G20 summit in Washington this weekend.

"Many investors would like to buy the yen but are wary of pushing through key levels ahead of the G20 summit," the trader at the European bank said.

At the Washington summit this weekend, world leaders will meet to discuss precisely what steps they need to work out in the coming months, and how much say emerging economies will have over global finance.

Finance officials from the G20 group of developed economies and the largest emerging economies agreed on Sunday on the need to take measures to stimulate growth and fight off the threat of a global recession.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback's performance against six major currencies, declined 0.1 percent to 86.98. (Editing by Michael Watson)

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