* Dollar, yen slip as G20 favours "risk" sentiment
* Trade subdued due to U.S. market holiday on Monday
* Commodity strength lifts loonie; Aussie at year-high
(Updates prices, adds quote, changes byline)
By Jamie McGeever
LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar and yen fell on
Monday and the Australian dollar hit a one-year high, after a
meeting of global finance chiefs boosted investor appetite for
growth-related "riskier" assets like commodities and stocks.
Investors were slightly more inclined to put on trades after
Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers agreed to
continue implementing expansionary monetary and fiscal policy,
analysts said. []
New draft rules in China to ease investment limits also
boosted broad market sentiment, which pushed European shares up
1.8 percent <> and oil up 1 percent <.CLc1>.
[]
Gold also neared $1,000 an ounce <XAU> which, along with
strong Australian jobs data, helped hoist the Australian dollar
to its highest levels in a year, while the New Zealand dollar
neared its strongest in almost a year ahead of the Reserve Bank
of New Zealand meeting this week.
But trading was thin thanks to the U.S. Labor Day holiday.
"There wasn't a big market reaction to G20, but in general
the outcome was seen as pro-risk appetite, mainly because there
will be no early exit from the stimulus packages," said Robert
Minikin, currency strategist at Standard Chartered in London.
At 1410 GMT the dollar index, a measure of its
trade-weighted value against six major currencies, was quarter
of a percent down at 77.942 <.DXY>. A fall below 77.428 will
herald a near one-year low.
The dollar was flat against the yen at 92.95 yen <JPY=>, but
the euro was up 0.3 percent against the Japanese currency at
133.30 yen <JPY=>.
The euro was up a third of a percent against the dollar at
$1.4335 <EUR=>, near a one-week high but still below August's
eight-month peak of $1.4448.
LOONIE RALLIES
The euro got little impetus from data showing German
manufacturing orders rose a stronger-than-expected 3.5 percent
in July, adding to signs the country's industrial sector was
supporting a recovery. []
The Australian dollar rose as high as $0.8577 <AUD=D4>, its
highest since late August 2008. It was fetching $0.8552 at 1410
GMT, up 0.5 percent on the day.
The New Zealand dollar <NZD=D4> rose to $0.6935 against the
U.S. dollar <NZD=D4>, its highest since mid-September 2008,
according to Reuters charts.
The U.S. dollar was down more than a full percent against
its Canadian counterpart at C$1.0750 <CAD=>.
"The Canadian dollar rally is very well justified ... on a
combination on the improvement in the commodity environment and
the cyclical improvement," Minikin said, noting the relatively
strong Canadian jobs data on Friday compared to the U.S. data.
Analysts said sterling trade was extra choppy because of
merger and acquisition-related speculation after Britain's
Cadbury <CBRY.L> rejected a $16.7 billion bid from U.S. group
Kraft Foods <KFT.N>.
Sterling traders are also turning towards the Bank of
England's policy decision on Thursday.
It is widely expected to keep interest rates on hold at 0.5
percent but after it surprised last time with an expansion of
its quantitative easing programme, the market will be wary of
any additional credit easing measures.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Bank of Canada meet
on Thursday too and are also expected are expected to keep rates
unchanged.
"We've got three central bank meetings this week. Let's see
what they announce, if it's confirmed they still want loose
monetary policy then it's a sign that central banks are still a
little bit cautious on recovery prospects," said Geoffrey Yu, a
currency strategist at UBS.
