* Euro down 0.4 pct at $1.4905 <EUR=>
* Upside for euro/dollar heavy above $1.5000
* German Q3 GDP unchanged; eyes on German Ifo
* Fed to release Nov meeting minutes
By Tamawa Desai
LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The dollar was broadly higher on
Tuesday as investors sold currencies associated with risk on
concerns about the banking system while looking ahead to data on
the outlook for economic growth.
The euro fell on a German media report the majority owners
of WestLB [] were threatening not to support the stricken
German landesbank's requirement for more capital, citing
financial sources. []
Some traders also cited a report published on Monday from
U.S. ratings firm Standard and Poor's, which raised concerns
about the health of some major banks. []
Data on Tuesday showed Germany's economy grew 0.7 percent in
the third quarter, unchanged from a preliminary estimate.
Markets awaited the key German Ifo sentiment data, due at
0900 GMT and expected to show a modest improvement.
"The Ifo data will be the focus, and it should be consistent
with a gradual improvement in the German economy, but even then
it should have a limited impact on the euro," said Lee Hardman,
currency economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
"Rallies on risk assets are showing diminishing returns, and
major currencies are looking stretched against the dollar."
Asian shares were in the red on Tuesday, with the Nikkei
average <> down 0.8 percent after a higher close on Wall
Street on Monday. European shares <> and S&P futures
<SPc1> were also slightly down.
At 0824 GMT, the euro was down 0.4 percent on the day at
$1.4905. It hit a one-week high of $1.5001 on Monday.
Traders cited options with a strike price of $1.5000 and
$1.5050 set to expire later in the day.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the
greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was up
0.3 percent at 75.379 <.DXY>.
Some investors buy the dollar, seen as a safe haven, against
other higher-yielding currencies and sell assets like stocks and
commodities when economic optimism diminishes.
The yen was also broadly firmer, with the dollar down 0.3
percent to 88.63 yen <JPY=>, having touched a six-week low of
88.56 yen on trading platform EBS.
The euro fell 0.8 percent to 132.08 yen <EURJPY=>.
Trade was expected to be thin, exaggerating price moves
ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.
"With a holiday-shortened week this week, there are still
investors who want to close their dollar-short positions," said
Yuji Saito, head of the FX sales department at Societe Generale
in Tokyo.
Traders also focused on U.S. economic indicators later in
the day, including revised U.S. gross domestic product for the
third quarter and housing market data. <ECONUS>
The Federal Reserve will release minutes of its Nov. 3-4
meeting at 1900 GMT, which will include economic projections for
the next two years. Markets will particularly focus on the Fed's
forecasts for unemployment.
Commodity-linked currencies weakened as investors shied away
from risky assets. The Australian dollar fell 0.7 percent to
$0.9171 <AUD=D4>, off a 15-month high of $0.9407 last week.
The New Zealand dollar was down 1.0 percent to $0.7253,
having risen more than 1 percent on Monday.
(Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo, editing by
Nigel Stephenson)
((tamawa.desai@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +44207 542 7018,
Reuters Messaging: tamawa.desai.reuters.com@reuters.net))
