* Yen erases earlier losses vs other majors
* Yen rises as Chinese shares fall more than 2 percent
* U.S. recovery doubts linger, curbing gains in high yielders
By Satomi Noguchi
TOKYO, Aug 19 (Reuters) - The yen rose versus other major currencies on Wednesday, as a fall in Chinese shares made investors cautious about returning to risky investments.
In early Asian trade the yen fell broadly after robust U.S. corporate results gave support to Wall Street and helped boost growth-linked currencies such as the Australian dollar.
The Japanese currency later regained its footing as investors trimmed yen short positions amid concerns about the outlook for Shanghai shares, said to be the main driver of current moves in the absence of major economic data.
The yen's gains picked up steam in the afternoon as Chinese stocks extended their decline to fall 2.4 percent.
Analysts say worries remain that stock market valuations are stretched and running ahead of economic fundamentals.
In particular, they worry about the resilience of the U.S. recovery and what will happen when stimulus effects wear off.
"The market is very conscious about movements in Chinese stock markets to see if there is any sign that the Chinese economy could be facing a change for the worse," said Takahide Nagasaki, chief FX strategist for Daiwa Securities SMBC.
The dollar fell 0.3 percent from late U.S. trade on Tuesday to 94.42 yen, off an earlier high near 95.00 yen.
The euro fell 0.4 percent to 133.36 yen, having pulled back from an earlier high of 134.50 yen and inching back in the direction of a one-month low of 132.51 struck earlier this week on trading platform EBS.
Against the dollar, the euro dipped 0.1 percent to $1.4127, off an earlier high just above $1.4170 but remaining supported by Tuesday's better-than-expected German ZEW data..
High-yielding currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars dipped, with the Aussie dollar easing 0.1 percent to $0.8260 and the kiwi slipping 0.1 percent to $0.6740.
The Aussie had hit an 11-month high on Friday while the kiwi reached a 2009 peak, before both retreated in the face of a sell-off in risky assets that has gathered pace since late last week.
"We are basically seeing some consolidation after the sharp moves on Friday and Monday," said Katie Dean, a senior market economist at ANZ.
"We will see more volatility and choppy trades given that not much is happening in terms of events. So any correction to stock markets could be a key driver for currencies."
The U.S. market gained 1 percent on Tuesday helped by better-than-expected results from Home Depot Inc and Target Corp.
U.S. stock markets have risen more than 40 percent since their March low. Meanwhile the Shanghai composite index is more than 50 percent higher than at the start of the year, though it has shed more than 15 percent in the past two weeks.
Sterling dipped 0.2 percent to $1.6523, erasing some of its sharp gains made the previous day after unexpectedly high core British inflation. (Additional reporting by Anirban Nag in SYDNEY and Masayuki Kitano in TOKYO; Editing by Chris Gallagher)