* Yen gains broadly on receding risk appetite, equity falls
* Yen hits 5-mth high vs dollar, 8-week high vs Aussie dlr
* Commodity-based currencies also hit by oil price falls
* Japan upgrades economic view for 3rd straight month
(Adds quotes, updates prices)
By Jessica Mortimer
LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - The yen rose broadly on Monday,
hitting a five-month high against the dollar and an eight-week
high against the Australian dollar as concern over upcoming U.S.
corporate earnings heightened investors' aversion to risk.
The yen was the major beneficiary as European shares fell
<>, while traders noted it also gained as Japan's
government upgraded its assessment for the third straight month
in July. []
Commodity-based currencies, particularly the Australian and
New Zealand dollars, were hit hard by further falls in oil
prices, pushing the Aussie to a seven-and-a-half week low
against the U.S. dollar.
The euro inched into positive territory on the day against
the dollar, however, as equities came off their lowest levels,
though investors remained nervous ahead of some key U.S.
corporate results and major economic data this week.
"Risk aversion trades are coming back into the market again
and the yen is the main currency to benefit from that," CMC
Markets analyst James Hughes said.
"This week there is heavy focus on the U.S. earnings seasons
and investors will want to see that any recovery for major
companies is revenue-based and not cost-cutting based," he
added.
The dollar hit a five-month low against the yen of 91.73 yen
on electronic trading platform EBS. At 1032 GMT, it was down 0.5
percent at 92.07 yen <JPY=>.
The euro fell 0.3 percent against the yen to 128.61 yen
<EURJPY=>, though it edged up 0.2 percent against the dollar at
$1.3957 <EUR=>.
Analysts said commodity-based currencies such as the
Australian and New Zealand dollars came under particularly heavy
pressure, hit both by falling oil prices and by gains in the yen
as investors unwind risk trades.
The Australian dollar fell 0.7 percent to $0.7728, having
earlier touched a seven-week low of $0.7711 <AUD=D4>. Against
the yen it hit an eight-week low around 70.78 yen <AUDJPY=R>.
The New Zealand dollar also fell 1 percent against the
dollar <NZD=> and around 1.8 percent versus the yen <NZDJPY=R>.
Friday's weaker-than-expected U.S. consumer sentiment data
sparked more concerns about a flagging economic recovery, and
investors will be cautious before key data such as the German
ZEW survey and U.S. retail sales figures on Tuesday [].
Company earnings releases this week include those from
Goldman Sachs <GS.N>, JPMorgan Chase <JPM.N> and Citigroup
<C.N>, while Federal Reserve policy meeting minutes and a Bank
of Japan policy meeting will be closely eyed later in the week.
"Company results will set the tone, and it could be a tricky
week. The focus will be on any guidance for 2010," said
Stockholm-based SEB currency strategist Anders Soderberg.
In recent weeks, market players have started to fret that
the previous optimism about prospects for a global economic
recovery and the accompanying rally in risk assets may have been
overdone, giving a boost to the yen and the dollar.
Against this backdrop, the yen showed subdued reaction to
the Japanese ruling bloc's loss in a Tokyo assembly election on
Sunday, and to Prime Minister Aso's plans to call a nationwide
general election at the end of August [].
Investors are already bracing for the likelihood of the
opposition Democratic Party winning the general election,
traders and analysts said.
(Additional reporting by Masayuki Kitano in Tokyo; editing by
Stephen Nisbet)
