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FOREX-Yen near lows after retreat, CAD keeps pressure on

Published 04/20/2010, 11:54 PM
Updated 04/21/2010, 12:12 AM
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* Yen near day's lows as cross profit-taking dries up

* Euro edges back after selling said to be on bond redemption

* But euro still struggling on euro zone debt concerns

* Canadian dollar tests upside as hawkish BOC supports

By Kaori Kaneko

TOKYO, April 21 (Reuters) - The yen hovered near the day's lows on Wednesday as strong U.S. earnings and gains in Asian stocks kept a rebound in commodity and other currencies broadly intact, while the Canadian dollar flirted with a 22-month high.

The euro, still battling worries about debt-laden Greece, struggled as selling against the yen said to be related to bond redemptions kept it at its lowest in two weeks on the dollar. Greek and Irish bond redemptions and coupon payments of about 10 billion euros are expected this week.

The Canadian dollar inched towards this month's peak at C$0.9953 after the Bank of Canada signalled the day before that an interest rate rise may come as early as June, and it climbed 0.2 percent against the yen, outperforming other crosses.

"Generally, upbeat U.S. earnings are helping investors look for risk tolerance trades and real money players are seeking opportunities to buy on dips in yen crosses," said Hiroshi Maeba, deputy managing director of FX trading at Nomura Securities.

Apple Inc posted results which blew past expectations, sending its shares up more than 5 percent to a all-time high. That followed strong results from Goldman Sachs, and traders said robust earnings were boosting optimism about the global economy and supporting risk appetite.

The Canadian dollar, which jumped 2.5 percent against the yen on Tuesday, trimmed early gains to just 0.1 percent at 93.42 yen, after climbing to 93.58 yen. It has risen about 11 percent since starting to rally in late February.

The Australian dollar, another commodity-linked currency which rose 1.7 percent on Tuesday, slipped 0.2 percent to 86.70 yen.

The Aussie has been a popular play against the low-yielding yen thanks to its trade links to China and to its rising interest rates, and has climbed about 12 percent since early February.

The dollar held steady at 93.19 yen, after gaining 0.9 percent on Tuesday when it rose to 93.40, although it remains below a recent seven-month high at 94.78 yen.

SEPARATING THE RISKS

The euro slipped 0.2 percent to 125.03 yen, after rising as high as 125.64 yen on EBS the previous day.

A hedge fund sales trader said euro/yen flows were mixed although many were selling into any rallies and few reckoned it has much scope to rise substantially.

But he said the market was also cautious that with talks expected to start on Wednesday between Greece, EU and IMF officials, any positive news could force some short-covering.

The euro eased 0.1 percent to $1.3420, with light stops expected at $1.3375-80, a trader at bank in Singapore said.

The yen surged at the end of last week and the start of this on fears about broader fallout from the fraud charges against Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs and concerns that China would tighten policy to curb speculation in the property sector.

But those worries seem to have been put in the backburner for now, with resilience shown by investors towards risk appetite, reflected by a 9.3 percent decline in the VIX index, Wall Street's favourite gauge of risk sentiment.

"The bearish shift for yen remains intact as this week's reversal suggests the underlying trends are back on track," JP Morgan said in a report.

"The bullish shift in the crosses affirms this view with Aussie/yen now positioned for a push to new highs."

The Aussie struck a 19-month high of 87.55 yen last week.

It held broad gains at $0.9312, a day after the release of hawkish minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia's last board meeting. At that gathering, the central bank raised the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent and signalled more rate hikes in coming months.

The New Zealand dollar, meanwhile, remained on the back foot on talk that New Zealand rates may not rise in June, while sterling also edged 0.1 percent lower to $1.5363. (Additional reporting by Anirban Nag in Sydney, and Satomi Noguchi and Charlotte Cooper in Tokyo; Editing by Joseph Radford)

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