FOREX-Yen rises broadly amid waning risk demand

(Recasts, updates prices, changes byline)

* Weak U.S. data boosts investor risk aversion

* U.S. factory activity falls again in May

* Dollar erases losses versus euro as U.S. stocks gain

By Vivianne Rodrigues

NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - The yen rose across the board on Thursday as investors reduced demand for riskier assets such as stocks after a series of weak U.S. economic data added to anxiety over the country's growth picture.

Analysts said that while market indicators pointed to the Federal Reserve being close to the end of its interest rate cutting cycle, there were nagging doubts on whether the economy would be able to cope without further policy easing.

"It's a yen story. Industrial production was weak and capacity was down. Although the Philly Fed improved, it's still negative and jobless claims were not good," said Ashraf Laidi, chief forex strategist at CMC Markets in New York.

"We cannot just dismiss these numbers by saying manufacturing is a small component of the economy. It is irresponsible for the market to reduce or eliminate the possibility of a rate cut by the Fed."