* Dollar edges up on yen but loses ground to higher yielders
* Many Asian, European centres closed for Easter holiday
* Focus on how stocks fare as US bank results come in
By Kaori Kaneko
TOKYO, April 13 (Reuters) - The dollar edged up on the yen in
quiet trade on Monday, with many Asian and European financial
centres closed for the Easter holiday and as markets waited for
the U.S. corporate earnings season to get into full swing.
U.S. banks including Goldman Sachs <GS.N>, JPMorgan <JPM.N>
and Citigroup <C.N> are set to report first-quarter results this
week, and traders are keen to see how stock markets react to
these earnings reports.
But after a relaxation of industry accounting standards,
analysts say it will be difficult to gauge losses from bad loans
in areas like real estate and consumer credit. []
"Market participants generally stayed on the sidelines before
the U.S. bank earnings and they are waiting for stocks' moves
following the results," said a dealer at a Japanese bank.
Last week, the dollar rose against the yen, buoyed by a rally
in U.S. shares after positive earnings guidance from U.S. bank
Wells Fargo <WFC.N>.
"If U.S. earnings results show signs that the U.S. is pulling
away from the worst of the economic downturn, risk appetite is
expected to grow, putting pressure on the yen," said Yoshihisa
Kanzaki, a currency dealer at Shinkin Central Bank.
Others said the currency market has priced in positive U.S.
earnings figures, so downward pressure on the yen could be
limited even if the results are better than expected, and the
market is more likely to swayed by negative surprises.
The dollar was trading around 100.42 yen <JPY=> compared with
100.22 yen in late Tokyo trading on Friday. The U.S. currency
touched 101.45 yen last week, its highest in six months.
The euro was quoted at $1.3168 <EUR=>, a shade down from
$1.3186 on Friday when it also slipped to $1.3090, a level not
seen since mid-March.
Against the yen, the euro was flat at 132.26 yen <EURJPY=R>.
It climbed to 137.42 yen last week, its highest in six months.
LIFE INSURER
Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co, one of Japan's top nine life
insurers which hold a total of about $1.5 trillion in assets,
said it planned to increase currency-hedged foreign bond holdings
by more than 200 billion yen ($2 billion) this financial year to
next March and cut foreign stock holdings by 40 billion yen.
[]
The Australian dollar rose against both the dollar and yen
even though Australia's markets were closed and traders in Tokyo
said business was limited.
The Aussie was up 0.5 percent at $0.7224 <AUD=D4> and rose
above 73.00 yen <AUDJPY=R>, the highest since October, before
falling back to 72.51 yen.
Retail investors had likely picked up the higher yielding
Aussie on expectations Japanese stocks would open higher, giving
a lift to investor confidence, dealers said, but the Nikkei
average <> later fell. []
The Aussie has gained 2 percent against the dollar this year
and 13 percent against the yen as investor confidence has crept
back into the market and players have begun to look for yield.
Australia last week cut its key cash rate by 0.25 basis
points to 3.0 percent, less than some had expected but still
higher than rates near zero in both Japan and the United States.
Market players were also looking to developments in China
after a report the country was considering more stimulus steps.
China is planning a new economic stimulus package targeted at
boosting consumption, the China Securities Journal reported,
citing an official of the State Information Center, which is
affiliated with the country's top planning agency. []
If China expands its economic measures, it would help
increase investor risk tolerance as a strong economic recovery in
China would help the global economy, traders said.
The U.S. Treasury Department is directing General Motors
<GM.N> to lay the groundwork for a bankruptcy filing by June 1,
even though the automaker has publicly stated it could reorganise
outside of court, the New York Times reported. []
The immediate impact of the GM report on the currency market
was limited but players will watch how U.S. markets react to it
later in the session, dealers said.
The market will also be watching U.S. economic data,
including housing and labour market figures, as well as Chinese
gross domestic product data for the first quarter due this week.
(Editing by Chris Gallagher)
