* 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 percent m/m, beats forecasts
(Adds quote, data, updates prices)
By Tamawa Desai
LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The yen slid versus both 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 in the wake of stronger-than-expected U.S. existing home sales data last Friday and on upbeat comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
The low-yielding yen has tended 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 has also usually declined when risk sentiment picks up, held its ground against 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 0938 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 0.3 percent at 135.61 yen.
Nonetheless, central bankers at a conference in Jackson Hole over the weekend warned against a too early exit from super-easy 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 some 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, up much more than forecasts for a 1.5 percent gain.
The euro rose to $1.4305 from around $1.4295 shortly before the data. It was last at $1.4295, down 0.1 percent from late U.S. trade on Friday.
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 key 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 on consumer sentiment on Friday.
U.S. new home sales, durable goods orders and revised second-quarter gross domestic product are due out this week.
Signs of some stabilisation in Chinese equities also supported higher-yielding currencies.
Shanghai Composite Index ended 1.1 percent higher. European shares were up 0.8 percent by late morning trade.
The Australian dollar rose 0.7 percent to 79.68 yen and the New Zealand dollar edged up 0.5 percent to 65.03 yen.
The Aussie also rose 0.6 percent against the U.S. dollar to stand at $0.8402 while kiwi was up 0.4 percent at $0.6857. (Editing by Stephen Nisbet)