* Yen slides, high-risk currencies up as stocks recover
* European shares up 1.4 percent, after Shanghai rallies 4.5 percent
* Traders remain cautious on risk in holiday-thinned markets (Adds comment, details, updates prices; previous TOKYO)
By Naomi Tajitsu
LONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - The yen slipped on Thursday, while higher-yielding currencies crept up as a recovery in global shares prices stoked some risk appetite in summer holiday-thinned trade. Chinese shares stormed higher, clawing back from a sell-off in the past two weeks and helping to prod European shares up in early trade. This calmed risk aversion to the detriment of the Japanese currency, which tends to flourish when demand for higher-risk assets falls.
"We had a comeback in equities in Asia overnight ... that has eased some of the tensions that have seen the yen in particular do well," said Chris Gothard, currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in London.
Still, he added that gains in currencies considered to be higher-risk including the Australian and New Zealand dollars have been limited, as traders needed further convincing that the risk rally in past months is sustainable.
"There's definitely scepticism about whether the huge equity gains this month are justified by corporates and economic growth so people are taking stock at the moment."
By 0759 GMT, the yen was down across the board, prodding the dollar up 0.2 percent on the day to 94.30 yen. The pair recovered from a one-month low of 93.66 yen hit on Wednesday.
The high-yielding Australian and New Zealand currencies each rose around 0.5 percent against the yen, while edging up around 0.2 percent against the dollar.
The euro was little changed at $1.4220.
Currency traders took cues from a 4.5 percent gain in the Shanghai index on Thursday, which helped to pull European shares up 1.3 percent in early trade.
Market participants have been focussing on Shanghai stocks to try to gauge how well China can support economic recovery elsewhere and the stock market has shed nearly 20 percent in the past two weeks, sparking speculation whether this presages fresh economic troubles for the Asian powerhouse..
Despite the rally in stocks on Thursday, market participants were reminded of ongoing weakness in the global economy as a Bank of Japan policymaker warned that global growth remains fragile, which could impact the country's export recovery.
BOJ board member Atsushi Mizuno in a speech added there was little the central bank could do to push up prices in the short term, while suggesting he may favour keeping the central bank's unconventional policy steps to help the economy in place beyond December.
With few major data or events due in the European trading session, market participants waited weekly U.S. jobless claims later in the day, as well as the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's Business activity index to better gauge the state of the U.S. economy. (Editing by Chris Pizzey)