* Dollar/yen dips in thin market
* Aussie hits 11-month high vs dollar after RBA comments
* Dollar and yen seen likely to resume broad slide
* Yen takes cues from fluctuation in Chinese shares
By Masayuki Kitano
TOKYO, Aug 14 (Reuters) - The dollar dipped against the yen on Friday, pulling away from eight-week highs hit last week, hurt by the previous day's disappointing U.S. retail sales data and as the yen rose due to a fall in Chinese shares.
The Australian dollar hit an 11-month high against the dollar and initially rose against the yen after Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens said normal interest rates for Australia would be noticeably higher than the current 3 percent cash rate.
But the Aussie later trimmed gains, with the yen edging higher on crosses as Chinese shares fell 2.4 percent.
Falls in equities or data that cast doubts about the outlook for the global economy can dent risk appetite and trigger selling of higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar against the dollar and the yen.
Trading was thin, with some Japanese traders away for the mid-August "Obon" holidays.
While market players were keeping a close eye on fluctuations in Chinese equities, and despite Thursday's disappointing U.S. retail sales data, traders said the overall trend still seemed to be towards an improvement in risk appetite.
"I get the strong impression that optimistic views on the outlook for the economy will continue for a while," said Tokichi Ito, deputy general manager for Trust & Custody Services Bank's forex team.
As a result, the dollar and yen seem likely to head lower against other currencies, Ito said. The dollar is likely to have the upper hand against the yen, and could gradually rise towards 100 yen in September or October, he said.
The dollar fell 0.4 percent against the yen to 95.15 yen, pulling away from an eight-week high of 97.79 yen hit late last week on trading platform EBS after stronger-than- expected U.S. jobs data.
A trader for a Japanese brokerage house said the dollar was carrying over its weakness against the yen from the previous day, when the greenback fell on data showing a surprise dip in U.S. total retail sales in July.
The euro slipped 0.2 percent to $1.4267, giving back some of the gains it made on Thursday when data showed that Germany and France unexpectedly returned to growth in the second quarter.
The Australian dollar dipped 0.1 percent to $0.8418, having retreated after hitting an 11-month high of $0.8479 earlier in the day.
The Aussie slipped 0.3 percent against the yen to 80.07 yen.
Some traders said gains in the dollar against the yen could be limited in the near term, due to the potential for fund repatriation by Japanese investors related to $27 billion in coupon payments on U.S. Treasuries due on Aug.15. In addition, $61 billion in coupon securities mature on the same day. (Editing by Chris Gallagher)