* Yen rebounds as stock markets turn down
* U.S. corporate earnings eyed
* Aussie touches 6-month high vs yen
By Shinichi Saoshiro
TOKYO, April 14 (Reuters) - The yen pared earlier losses and gained broadly on Tuesday, as investor appetite for risk was put on hold following a slide in stock prices.
But analysts said the yen's respite could be cut short if share markets were to be cheered by U.S. corporate results due later in the day.
Stock market swings have recently been a dominant driver of the currency market, with expectations for a global economic recovery enhancing demand for assets such as equities and commodity currencies like the Australian dollar.
Tokyo's Nikkei stock average shed 1.1 percent and U.S. stock futures fell 0.9 percent, providing support for the yen.
Market participants said Tuesday's moves were dominated by short-term incentives with the focus on upcoming corporate earnings releases.
"It was a good chance for speculators to take profits and adjust positions after the yen's counterparts gained significantly," said a trader at a Japanese bank.
"The yen still lacks longer-term support with most eyes on earnings results from the United States," the trader said.
Closely watched results due later in the day include those of Intel and Johnson & Johnson. The market was also awaiting March U.S. retails sales data for any signs of recovery in consumer spending.
The dollar dropped 0.3 percent from late U.S. trade the previous day to 99.76 yen after climbing to 100.43.
The euro lost 0.3 percent to 133.30 yen after hitting 134.33 on trading platform EBS. The euro was little changed at $1.3362.
The Australian dollar rose as far as 73.49 yen, its highest since mid-October, before slipping to 72.75 yen, down 0.5 percent.
The New Zealand dollar fell 0.3 percent to 58.97 yen.
Markets are also waiting to see how U.S. banks fared in the first quarter, looking for signs the financial sector may be starting to stabilise after news that Goldman Sachs posted a higher-than-expected $1.7 bln profit helped lift sentiment.
Any lift in sentiment towards the financial sector is being eyed to boost the stock markets.
Currency pairs such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars against the yen have shown a high positive correlation with U.S share markets in recent months, and analysts say that is partly behind the yen's fall.
"The market is playing that correlation between equities and FX in an environment where yields everywhere are converging and people are getting some yield back into their portfolio - and cross/yen is where to play it," said Sue Trinh, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Sydney.
The U.S financial markets had made an upbeat return to business on Monday after the long weekend, driving the dollar and yen down and sending the euro and the Australian and New Zealand dollars up, with optimism about China's recovery prospects helping the commodity currencies.
Still, analysts caution the improvement in investor confidence is simply a reduction in the extreme pessimism seen at the height of the global economic crisis and sentiment remains fragile.
Optimism about banks was partly offset on Monday by a profit warning from Boeing and worries about automaker General Motors.
U.S. President Barack Obama plans to deliver what the White House called a "major" speech on the economy on Tuesday.
Obama said on Monday that thousands of major infrastructure projects being undertaken as part of his economic stimulus plan were ahead of schedule and under budget.
Singapore's central bank on Tuesday eased monetary policy for the second time since 2003 by effectively devaluing the Singapore dollar as its government forecast a record economic contraction this year.
The Australian dollar lost 0.2 percent to $0.7293 and the New Zealand dollar fell 0.1 percent to $0.5911. (Additional reporting by Charlotte Cooper; Editing by Chris Gallagher)