* Year-end position unwinding lifts dollar
* Breach of chart levels and stops add to dollar's rise
* Dlr hits 3-mth high vs euro, 2-mth peak vs Aussie
* Calm reaction to Fed's cautiously upbeat statement
* Asian shares, oil and gold edge lower
By Masayuki Kitano
TOKYO, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The dollar surged broadly and hit
a three-month high against the euro on Thursday on
short-covering ahead of the year-end, while Asian stocks and
other risky assets inched lower.
There was limited reaction to the Federal Reserve's
post-meeting statement on Wednesday, in which the U.S. central
bank voiced optimism about a stabilising economy.
The Fed left the benchmark interest rate near zero as
expected and reaffirmed the rate will be low for some time. It
also reminded markets that it will let most of its special
liquidity expire by early next year. []
The dollar rose on year-end position unwinding, adding to
its gain for the month. Gains in the currency have been helped
by data showing slowing U.S. job losses and improving consumer
confidence.
The Fed's statement, which highlighted an improvement in
housing and noted last month's decline in the unemployment
rate, did little to alter the dollar's firmness of recent
weeks.
"They are just coming out and saying things are looking a
bit better. There is nothing in there that really challenges a
slightly more upbeat view of the U.S. economy," said Adrian
Foster, Rabobank's head of financial markets research
Asia-Pacific in Hong Kong.
The euro, which has slid nearly 4 percent against the
dollar so far this month and is on track for its biggest
one-month fall since January, hit a three-month low of $1.4369
<EUR=> on trading platform EBS.
Its slide gained steam after breaching strong support at
$1.4500 and hitting stop-loss sell orders. It was at $1.4418,
down 0.9 percent.
The dollar advanced broadly, hitting a three-month high of
77.609 against a basket of currencies <.DXY>, a three-month
peak against the Swiss franc <CHF=> and a two-month high
against the higher-yielding Australian dollar <AUD=D4>.
Asian shares slipped, with the MSCI's index of Asian stock
markets outside Japan falling 1.1 percent to 400.23
<.MIAPJ0000PUS>, pulling away from a roughly 15-month peak of
416.89 struck in mid-November.
Japan's Nikkei share average <> ended down 0.1
percent, slipping from seven-week highs hit earlier in the day,
as investors pocketed profits on a rally in big banks such as
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group <8306.T>.
Weakness in financial shares also weighed on Hong Kong's
stock market, which slipped 1.2 percent <>. South Korean
shares slipped 1 percent <>, with losses by brokerages
weighing on the index.
Oil lost 0.3 percent to $72.41 a barrel <CLc1> and gold
prices dipped around 0.8 percent on the day to around $1,128
per ounce <XAU=>.
U.S. Treasuries rose, supported by softer stock markets.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose around 7/32 in price
to yield 3.573 percent <RTRTSY1> <US10YT=RR> down about 3 basis
points from late U.S. trading on Wednesday.
(Additional reporting by Satomi Noguchi; Editing by Kazunori
Takada)
