* Dollar up on short-covering, kiwi down 1.4 pct
* IMM speculator dollar shorts reach biggest since July
2008
* Yen surge hits Japan shares, Nikkei slides 2.3 pct
* Dollar gains push down commodities, oil down $1
By Eric Burroughs
HONG KONG, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The dollar crawled up on
Monday from a one-year low against other currencies as
speculators booked profits on bets against the greenback, while
the yen's surge threatened Japanese exporters and drove Tokyo
shares down.
European indexes were set for a weaker start, with futures
on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 <STXEc1> down 1.2 percent in
early trade.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> dropped about $1 a barrel to near $68
and gold prices dipped on the dollar's slight gains, even as
investors remained nervous that the rise was only a brief
respite in a deeper slide. Copper prices <MCU3> also retreated.
Some analysts said Washington's decision to slap duties on
Chinese tyre imports spooked investors, though others said
there was limited impact. China condemned the move as
protectionist. []
The rebound in global stocks has prompted many portfolio
managers to pull funds out of safe-haven dollar funds and shift
it into equities, while the surge in gold has revived worries
of consumer price inflation as a result of the Federal
Reserve's ultra-loose policy.
Japan's Nikkei average <> shed 2.3 percent as
investors are fretting about how the yen's surge against the
dollar will hurt exporters still reeling from the currency's
record surge last year. A rising yen erodes the value of the
earnings exporters make abroad.
"Japan will be hit by the stronger yen," said Masayoshi
Yano, senior market analyst at Meiwa Securities in Tokyo.
Japanese exporters are likely to feel the pain of a
stronger yen at levels below 95 to the dollar. The 95 level was
roughly the average rate seen by large exporters in the Bank of
Japan's last quarterly tankan survey for the business year to
March.
Among exporters, computer and mobile phone maker NEC
<6723.T> slumped 2.9 percent and was one of the biggest
decliners in the Nikkei. Back in July, NEC said it has assumed
a dollar rate of 90 yen for the current business year.
JAL FLYING
Bucking the trend, shares of Japan Airlines <9205.T> jumped
8 percent after sources said both American Airlines <AMR.N> and
Delta Airlines <DAL.N> were in talks about investing in JAL and
forming an operational alliance. []
Asian shares fell but fared better, with the MSCI index of
Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> down 1.5
percent. On Friday the U.S. S&P 500 <.SPX> dipped just 0.1
percent, but S&P futures <SPZ9> were pointing to a bigger drop
at the opening bell later in the day.
Chinese shares <> rose nearly 1 percent as investors
that missed out on the listing of Metallurgical Corp of China
put funds into the market, helping offset a drop in tyremakers.
GITI Tire <600182.SS>, China's largest tyremaker, shed 5
percent.
The dollar index, a gauge of its performance agains six
major currencies, rose 0.4 percent to 76.919 <.DXY>. Last week
the dollar index tumbled 1.9 percent last week, the biggest
weekly drop since May, and hit a one-year low of 76.457.
Because of the sharp drop in the past few weeks, some
traders said the dollar was due for a short-term bounce.
"A rise in the dollar is nothing more than a technical
rebound, and the greenback's downtrend is unchanged," said
Hideki Hayashi, global economist at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo.
Data from the International Monetary Market on Friday
showed speculators held a net dollar short position of $17.91
billion as of Sept. 8, the biggest since mid-July 2008 when the
dollar hit a record low against the euro. []
The dollar edged up 0.1 percent against the yen to 90.56
yen <JPY=> after having slid as far as 90.18 yen on trading
platform EBS in early trade, a seven-month low.
Some market players were buying the dollar to protect
option positions near 90 yen, traders sad, but on the charts
the dollar was looking more likely to test the 14-year low of
87.10 yen touched in January.
The euro was down 0.4 percent at $1.4533 <EUR=> and coming
under pressure after having trouble pushing above $1.46 in the
past few days.
Higher-yielding currencies were harder hit. The Australian
dollar <AUD=D4> dropped 0.8 percent to $0.8575 and the New
Zealand dollar <NZD=D4> lost 1.4 percent to $0.6980, both
retreating from one-year peaks.
New Zealand retail sales posted a surprise fall in July,
reinforcing investor expectations that the central bank will
keep rates on hold for a while longer. []
Government bonds pushed higher on the drop in stocks, but
gains were limited. The benchmark 10-year Japanese government
bond yield <JP10YTN=JBTC> dipped a basis point to 1.290
percent, back near a two-month low.
(Additional reporting by Elaine Lies and Satomi Noguchi in
Tokyo; Editing by Jan Dahinten)
