FOREX-Dlr holds firmer tone vs yen, mkt digests G20

* Dollar/yen up 0.3 pct at 97.20 yen JPY=

* G20 meeting seen long on rhetoric, short on specifics

* Risk aversion seen intact; stock markets skittish

* Japan slips into recession in Q3

(Changes dateline, byline, adds quotes, updates prices PVS TOKYO)

By Veronica Brown

LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The dollar rose against the yen in narrow ranges on Monday, with risk averse positions seen staying in favour after the weekend's G20 meeting failed to come up with specific action to restore global market confidence.

The economic outlook continued to worsen as Japan joined the euro zone in recession, while U.S. data showed a record fall in retail sales in October. (For details please double click on [ID:nN14423234])

Britain will suffer its sharpest economic contraction in almost two decades next year, and unemployment could rise to almost 3 million by 2010, the Confederation of British Industry forecast.

Leaders of 20 leading economies, meeting in Washington over the weekend, agreed on a host of steps to rescue the global economy from the worst financial crisis in 80 years. But they left it to individual governments to tailor their response to their own circumstances and troubled industries.

"There's nothing we've had (from the G20) that changes people's view of the global economy or what the likely policy response is to it," said Daragh Maher, deputy head of global foreign exchange research at Calyon in London.

"The strategy that people have had has been 'Play strong dollar, play strong yen, buy those on the dips and if it ain't broke don't fix it,'" he added.

By 0845 GMT the dollar was up a quarter of a percent on the day at 97.14 yen JPY=, while the euro was little changed against the U.S. currency at $1.2658 EUR=

The euro was also flat at 123.06 yen, while it dropped a third of a percent to 85.54 pence EURGBP=.

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