(Corrects paragraph 6 to ...below 7,000, not ...below 7.000)
* Dollar dips vs yen on light profit-taking after rally
* Euro stays under pressure on Trichet comments
* Investors eye global stock prices, Nikkei drops 2.3 pct
By Rika Otsuka
TOKYO, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The dollar dipped against the yen on Tuesday, but it held close to a three-month high on optimism the U.S. government will stay more proactive than other nations in fighting the financial crisis.
The U.S. Treasury Department, Federal Reserve and three other federal agencies said on Monday in a joint statement they will initiate a programme on Wednesday to assess large U.S. banks' capital needs and determine whether a bigger buffer is warranted.
"Players in the forex market believe the U.S. government is taking very aggressive steps to tackle bank problems," said Hideki Amikura, deputy general manager of forex trading at Nomura Trust and Banking. "That is helping the dollar."
The dollar also received a boost on Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported the government could take a stake of up to 40 percent in Citigroup by converting preferred stock into common shares.
Activity was somewhat limited on Tuesday, however, as market participants retreated to the slidelines to assess the implications of a sharp fall in global share prices, traders said.
Tokyo's Nikkei share average dropped 2.3 percent in early trade, crawling towards a 26-year below 7,000, after Wall Street slumped to a 12-year low overnight.
The dollar dipped 0.3 percent from late U.S. trade to 94.34 as some investors booked profits on the previous day's rally, when the U.S. currency struck a three-month high of 94.95 yen on trading platform EBS.
The euro edged down 0.1 percent to $1.2675. The euro stayed under pressure as European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Monday the euro-zone financial system is under severe strain.
The European single currency fell 0.5 percent to 119.56 yen, sliding from a one-month peak of 121.92 yen reached the previous day.
(Reporting by Rika Otsuka; Editing by Brent Kininmont)