* Cross/yen buoyed by higher stocks across Asia
* Dollar extends gains vs yen after touching 5-mth low on Mon
* Sentiment recovers slightly but market still cautious
By Kaori Kaneko
TOKYO, July 14 (Reuters) - The yen drifted lower on Tuesday as higher stocks in Asia helped improve investor risk appetite, but market participants remained cautious before earnings reports from companies including Goldman Sachs as well as economic data in the United States.
The dollar extended gains against the yen after hitting a five-month low on Monday, but the market stayed range-bound amid persistent worries over the global economy.
"Market sentiment has improved slightly compared to a few days ago, but we still need to see the actual numbers in U.S. results," said Mitsuru Sahara, chief manager at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
The dollar rose 0.3 percent to 93.21 yen after hitting a five-month low of 91.73 yen on electronic trading platform EBS on Monday.
In addition to Goldman Sachs, Intel Corp and Johnson & Johnson release quarterly results on Tuesday.
"The market has already priced in positive numbers from Goldman Sachs and further buying of the dollar and cross/yen will be unlikely even after the results," said Yuji Saito, head of FX sales department at Societe Generale.
The U.S. June Producer Price Index (PPI) and retail sales data for the same month are also due today. The PPI will likely show a 0.9 percent rise compared with a 0.2 percent climb in May, and retail sales are expected to gain 0.4 percent after a 0.5 percent rise in May.
Dealers said there were sell orders for the dollar at the upper end of the 93 yen range from Japanese exporters, which capped the dollar's gains against the yen.
The euro gained 0.4 percent to 130.38 yen, and it was steady at $1.3978.
The Australian dollar climbed 0.5 percent to 73.18 yen, while the New Zealand dollar was up 0.2 percent at 58.97 yen.
Tokyo's Nikkei share average rose 2.3 percent, buoyed by exporters after U.S. stocks climbed.
U.S. shares rallied more than 2 percent on Monday as bullish comments on financial sector performance from influential analyst Meredith Whitney lifted hopes that banks' results may be stronger than thought. Whitney, who has in the past been bearish, also upgraded Goldman Sachs to a "buy", driving its stock higher.
Dealers said it was too early to say market sentiment has returned to a fully positive mood as U.S. economic data, notably employment data, remains weak.
"I don't think people believe there will be upbeat earnings from the U.S. Although there is no need to be pessimistic, there are also earnings from the U.S. besides the banking sector to assess," said Kosuke Hanao, head of Treasury products sales at HSBC.
IBM and General Electric release quarterly earnings this week, as do Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co and others.
The Bank of Japan starts a two-day policy board meeting on Tuesday and may announce that it will extend measures to support corporate finance, although it is almost certain to keep its policy rate unchanged at 0.1 percent. (Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Joseph Radford)