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FOREX-Dollar edges up vs yen before US bank earnings

Sun Apr 12, 2009 9:28pm EDT

Stocks

   

* Many overseas players away for Easter holiday

Currencies

* Focus on how stocks fare as US bank results come in

TOKYO, April 13 (Reuters) - The dollar edged up against the yen in quiet trade on Monday with many overseas players still away for the Easter holiday and others waiting until the U.S. corporate earnings season gets into full swing.

U.S. banks including Goldman Sachs (GS.N) JPMorgan (JPM.N) and Citigroup (C.N) are set to report Q1 results this week, and traders are keen to see how stock markets react to these earnings reports.

Last week, the dollar rose against the yen, buoyed by a rally in U.S. stocks after positive earnings guidance from U.S. bank Wells Fargo (WFC.N).

"If U.S. earnings results show signs that the U.S. is pulling away from the worst of the economic downturn, risk appetite is expected to grow, putting pressure on the yen," said Yoshihisa Kanzaki, currency dealer at Shinkin Central Bank.

Market watchers said the currency market has priced in positive U.S. earnings figures, so the market is more likely to react to any negative surprises.

The dollar was trading around 100.33 yen JPY=, compared with 100.22 yen in late Tokyo trading on Friday. The U.S. currency touched 101.45 yen last week, its highest in six months.

The euro was quoted at $1.3144 EUR=, down from $1.3186 on Friday when it also slipped to $1.3090, a level not seen since mid-March.

Against the yen, the euro was at 131.85 yen EURJPY=R, down from 132.24 yen. It climbed to 137.42 yen last week, its highest point in six months.

The Australian dollar rose above 73.00 yen AUDJPY=R, the highest since October, before falling back to 72.33 yen.

Retail investors seemed to be picking up the higher yielding Aussie, with thin trade exaggerating its price swings, market watchers said.

Australia last week slashed its key cash rate by just 0.25 basis points to 3.0 percent, less than some had expected. (Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Hugh Lawson)



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