* Commodity-linked currencies firm, euro also gains
* Trade subdued due to U.S. market holiday on Monday
* Eyes on RBNZ, BoE, BoC policy meetings, Chinese data
By Kaori Kaneko
TOKYO, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The dollar and yen lost ground on
Monday, while the euro rose and the Australian dollar hit its
strongest level in a year as shares gained following a G20 pledge
to keep economic supports in place.
But a holiday in U.S. markets and continuing caution about
the economic outlook, following a mixed U.S. jobs report on
Friday, meant there was little impetus for riskier currencies to
push on aggressively against the dollar or yen.
Analysts said financial markets had started the week in a
more upbeat mood, after the G20 leading powers agreed to continue
implementing expansionary monetary and fiscal policy, and new
draft rules in China to ease investment limits. []
[]
Investors also chose to focus on the brighter side of U.S.
payrolls data last week, but analysts warned momentum could fade,
with much positive news priced into equity markets and concerns a
labour market recovery would be tepid.
"There are still too many concerns, too much uncertainty
regarding the outlook and shape of recovery," said Mitul Kotecha,
global head of FX strategy at Calyon in Hong Kong.
The dollar index <.DXY>, a gauge of the greenback's
performance against six major currencies, was little changed at
78.070.
Against the yen, the dollar rose to 93.16 yen <JPY=>, up 0.2
percent from late U.S. trading on Friday when it touched 93.26
yen on trading platform EBS.
The euro gained 0.4 percent to 133.51 yen <EURJPY=R> and rose
0.3 percent to $1.4333 <EUR=>, although it remains below August's
eight-month high at $1.4448.
"The key really is the euro at $1.4450. That needs to break
to signal a break outside of recent ranges," said Sue Trinh,
currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Sydney.
Japanese media reported Hirohisa Fujii, 77, would probably be
chosen to as finance minister in Prime Minister-elect Yukio
Hatoyama's cabinet, although it was unclear when any such
appointment might be made.
Fujii has said Tokyo should not intervene in forex markets
unless currency rates swing abnormally. []
"There are still question marks about the Democrats' policy
on the yen and whether they really are happy to allow it to find
its own (level). The proof will be in the pudding," Kotecha said.
The Australian dollar <AUD=D4>, which climbed 1.3 percent on
Friday, rose to $0.8540 on Reuters dealing system data, its
highest in a year, before standing just 0.2 percent up on the day
at $0.8516 and 79.31 yen <AUDJPY=R>.
The New Zealand dollar <NZD=D4> firmed 0.1 percent to
$0.6880, also close to its highest in a year.
The highlights for the market this week will be three major
central bank meetings. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ),
the Bank of England (BoE) and the Bank of Canada (BoC) meet on
Thursday and while all three are expected to keep rates
unchanged, their statements will be closely scrutinised by
investors.
The BoE surprised last time with an expansion of its
quantitative easing programme, and the market will be wary of any
additional credit easing measures.
The RBNZ's statement will be watched for any change in its
explicit easing bias, while the market will focus on the
conditional BoC commitment to keep rates on hold until June 2010.
Also due this week is a raft of Chinese economic data,
including inflation, retail sales numbers and industrial
production, which will give investors an idea about whether the
recovery in the economy is quickening or not.
(Additional reporting by Anirban Nag in Sydney and Charlotte
Cooper in Tokyo; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
