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FOREX-Yen rises, Aussie pauses near 1-year high

Published 09/07/2009, 10:53 PM
Updated 09/07/2009, 10:57 PM
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* Yen stronger as investors trim longs in Aussie, kiwi

* Shanghai share drop dent Aussie, undermine strong data

* But rate hike talk provides support to AUD

* Kiwi's rise to pose fresh headache for RBNZ

By Satomi Noguchi

TOKYO, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The yen rose broadly on Tuesday, while growth-linked currencies like the Australian and New Zealand dollars paused near one-year highs as investors trimmed buying positions.

Investor appetite towards riskier assets including those higher-yielding currencies was tamed as Chinese shares opened down and dragged Tokyo shares lower into negative territory.

The yen and dollar fell broadly the previous day when the U.S. market was closed for the Labor Day holiday amid a broad improvement in risk taking.

Investors had been encouraged by global financial chiefs' statements at the weekend that it was too soon to start unwinding fiscal, monetary and financial-sector stimulus measures.

"There is no news or factor that's causing the yen's rise at the moment. It is just that climbs in yen crosses looked hard to stretch after yesterday's moves, prompting some people to cut long positions," said a chief trader for a Japanese bank.

The U.S. dollar dipped 0.3 percent from late trade in London on Monday to 92.78 yen.

The euro fell 0.3 percent to 132.95 yen. On the dollar, it was nearly flat at $1.4335 after having gained 0.3 percent the day before.

The greenback trimmed earlier losses against a basket of currencies with the dollar index trading at 77.999, nearly unchanged on the day.

The Australian dollar dipped 0.2 percent to $0.8539, retreating from a one-year high of $0.8578 struck on Monday. It fell despite data showing Australia's business confidence hit a six-year high in August, as traders continued to cut Aussie long positions against the yen.

But the strong data added to mounting speculation that local rates will rise in coming months, providing overall support to the Aussie.

Even before the release of business confidence measures, implied rates were pricing in a 45 percent chance of a rate hike in October by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The Aussie is also likely to draw support from firm gold prices which were hovering within striking distance of the $1000 an ounce level.

The kiwi edged lower to $0.6921 after jumping over 0.8 percent on Monday to hit a one-year high of $0.6935. The gains come ahead of a Reserve Bank of New Zealand meeting on Thursday to decide on monetary policy.

The recent surge in the kiwi could be a focus of Governor Alan Bollard, who has expressed his discomfort with its rise. The kiwi has rallied 30 percent since March, forcing monetary conditions to tighten to the frustration of the RBNZ which threatened to cut interest rates at its last meeting in July. (Additional reporting by Anirban Nag; editing by Joseph Radford)

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