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FOREX-Dollar edges up, euro slips as shares sluggish

Published 10/30/2009, 05:12 AM
Updated 10/30/2009, 05:15 AM

* Dollar edges up as Europe shares post early slide

* High-risk FX slip, but seen supported post U.S. GDP

* Traders await more U.S. data to see if economy recovering

(Adds comment, details, updates throughout; previous TOKYO)

By Naomi Tajitsu

LONDON, Oct 30 (Reuters) - The dollar inched up versus the euro on Friday, taking a cue from an early slide in European shares as traders awaited U.S. data to see if the economy shows more signs of recovery after strong third-quarter growth.

Despite those gains, the U.S. currency slipped against the yen, stung by month-end selling by Japanese firms, while the yen also rallied against other currencies after short-covering gains in the Australian and New Zealand dollars faded.

The euro slipped but held above a 2-1/2-week low against the dollar after the single currency rose on Thursday, when data showing the U.S. economy grew for the first time in more than a year boosted optimism about the global economic recovery and stoked investors' appetite for risk.

European shares slipped 0.4 percent in early trade, trimming gains from the previous day's rally on the strong U.S. GDP figures.

Forex traders sold higher-risk currencies including the Australian and New Zealand dollars, but analysts said losses may be limited, particularly if more signs of U.S. recovery emerge.

"Higher-risk currencies are down slightly today, but yesterday's very positive GDP number has given support to the risk trade, and that should carry over today and into next week," said Sverre Holbek, currency strategist at Danske in Copenhagen.

A reading of U.S. manufacturing activity later is due in the day, as well as a final reading of consumer sentiment to better gauge whether the economy is emerging from recession.

By 0854 GMT, the euro was down 0.1 percent on the day at $1.4815, near a session low of $1.4806 hit in early Europe trade.

The euro is on track to end a volatile trading week down more than 1 percent, as a sell-off in global stock markets earlier in the week had put the single currency under pressure.

Still, the euro has managed to claw back some of those losses, treading above $1.4681 hit the previous day before the U.S. GDP data.

TOUSHIN EYED

The dollar fell half a percent to 90.92 yen.

Market participants waited to see if yen selling would materialise from Japanese investment trusts given that a new launch drew 189.6 billion yen ($2.1 billion) from Japanese retail investors on Friday, the year's biggest first-day launch for a single series of Japanese toushin mutual funds.

The Bank of Japan on Friday began withdrawing some of its special credit measures from financial markets, ending buying of commercial paper and corporate bonds in December but then also extending a key loan scheme.

Analysts said the changes, which were mostly expected, did not affect the yen. It also forecast three years of deflation, effectively pledging to keep interest rates near zero at least until 2011.

The Australian dollar fell 0.3 percent against the U.S. dollar, while the New Zealand currency fell 0.6 percent. Both fell around 1 percent against the yen.

Despite their slide, both currencies managed to keep above three-week lows hit against the dollar and the yen the previous day. (Additional reporting by Tokyo Forex Team; Editing by Mike Peacock)

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