FOREX-Dollar near 6-week low on yen, Aussie heads higher

* Dollar stumbles vs yen, yen mixed on crosses, Aussie
gains

* U.S. data mixed, Asian stocks also mixed

* RBA deputy governor upbeat on Australian economic outlook

By Charlotte Cooper

TOKYO, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The dollar held near a six-week
low against the yen on Wednesday while the Australian dollar
gained on the greenback and the Japanese currency after an
upbeat speech from a central banker and a rise in construction
work.

Reserve Bank of Australian Deputy Governor Ric Battellino
said the economy had entered a new growth phase which would
last for years, helping push the Australian dollar up above
$0.9200 AUD=D4 and gain on the yen as it supported
speculation of a third interest rate hike in a row in December.
[nSYA008138]

But major currencies were not straying beyond recent ranges
which have established themselves as investors have trickled
off to the sidelines ahead of Thursday's U.S. Thanksgiving
holiday.

The euro neared the $1.50 barrier, which has proved a
stumbling block this month, and the dollar held above a recent
15-month low against a basket of currencies.

"There is this tug-of-war between the data releases and
position adjustment ahead of the festive season," said Masafumi
Yamamoto, chief FX strategist Japan at Barclays Capital.

"These days the market has no clear direction. Every day
the direction is different. Today risk assets up, tomorrow risk
assets down."

The euro EUR= was flat at $1.4965 and held steady at
132.36 yen EURJPY=R after slipping about 0.5 percent on
Tuesday.

The dollar was soft at 88.45 yen JPY= after dropping to a
six-week low of 88.35 yen the previous day.

The ICE Futures dollar index .DXY, which tracks the
greenback against a basket of currencies, was flat at 75.070,
off a two-week high of 75.879 hit on Friday but above a
15-month low of 74.679 set earlier in November.

U.S. weekly jobless claims and other U.S. data will be
released later on Wednesday, ahead of the holiday, with
investors looking for clues on the state of the recovery after
Federal Reserve meeting minutes showed officials increasingly
confident the recovery will be durable. [ID:nN24313828]

On Tuesday, revised U.S. government data showed the economy
expanded at an annual rate of 2.8 percent, slower than the 3.5
percent pace it estimated last month. Another report showed
U.S. consumer confidence rose, but sentiment about the labour
market remained weak. For more, see [ID:nN24296971]

The Australian dollar climbed 0.5 percent to $0.9236 as
Asian trading picked up, although it remained well short of
this month's 15-month high of $0.9407.

Construction work done in Australia rose 2.2 percent in the
third quarter, higher than forecasts for a flat reading.
[ID:nSYU009074}

The Aussie also climbed 0.4 percent to 81.69 yen AUDJPY=R
although the Japanese currency held its own against the euro at
132.47 yen EURJPY=R, after the single European currency fell
0.5 percent on Tuesday.
(Editing by Jan Dahinten)
((Email: charlotte.cooper@thomsonreuters.com; +81 3 6441 1870;
Reuters Messaging: charlotte.cooper.reuters.com@reuters.net))

All data taken from Reuters calculated from the levels at
2130 GMT in the previous New York session.

Last US Close Pct YTD Pct 2008

Change Change Close
-------------------------------------------------------------
Euro/dlr EUR= 1.4966 1.4960 +0.04 +7.07 1.3978
Dlr/yen JPY= 88.380 88.560 -0.20 -2.45 90.600
Euro/yen EURJPY=R 132.25 132.46 -0.16 +4.41 126.66
Dlr/swiss CHF= 1.0085 1.0090 -0.05 -5.47 1.0669
Stg/dlr GBP= 1.6600 1.6573 +0.16 +13.50 1.4626
Dlr/cad CAD= 1.0572 1.0584 -0.11 -13.09 1.2165
Aus/dlr AUD= 0.9231 0.9186 +0.49 +30.51 0.7073
Nzd/dlr NZD= 0.7261 0.7245 +0.22 +24.44 0.5835
Aus/yen AUDJPY=R 81.570 81.320 +0.31 +27.39 64.030
Nzd/yen NZDJPY=R 64.170 64.130 +0.06 +21.49 52.820
Stg/yen GBPJPY=R 146.69 146.73 -0.03 +10.89 132.28
Aus/Nzd AUDNZD=R 1.2703 1.2672 +0.24 +4.91 1.2109
All spots FX= Tokyo spots AFX= Europe spots EFX=
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