FOREX-Dollar slips vs yen after rally on jobs news

                                
 * Profit-taking hits dollar after rally on jobs data
                                
 * Japanese exporters sell greenback around key 90 yen mark
                                
 * Eyes on Fed Chairman Benanke's speech at 1745 GMT
                                
 By Rika Otsuka
                                
 TOKYO, Dec 7 (Reuters) - The dollar slipped against the yen
on Monday as traders pocketed profits, slipping from a one-month
peak hit late last week when a surprisingly low number of U.S.
job losses boosted hopes for an economic recovery.
                                
 Japanese exporters sold the dollar around the psychologically
key 90 yen level, weighing on the U.S. currency in the near term,
traders said.
                                
 Even so, traders said the dollar is likely to stay buoyant
after employment data stoked speculation the Federal Reserve may
consider raising interest rates from record lows sooner than
previously thought.
                                
 Friday's figures showed the United States shed 11,000 jobs in
November, much less than market forecasts for losses of 130,000.
[ID:nN04320079].
                                
 Supported by such rate talk, the dollar posted its best
performance against a basket of currencies in nearly a year on
Friday. It soared 2.6 percent versus the yen, which has been
under pressure as the Bank of Japan eased monetary policy last
week to tackle deflation.
                                
 "The market's focal point has clearly shifted to U.S. rate
speculation," said a senior forex trader at a European bank. "The
Fed's exit strategy will likely dominate the market until the
next jobs data is out, lending the greenback support."
                                
 The dollar index, a measure of its value against six other
major currencies, fell 0.5 percent to 75.565 <.DXY>. It jumped
1.7 percent on Friday, its biggest one-day rise since
mid-December last year.
                                
 The dollar fell 0.6 percent from U.S. trade late on Friday to
89.99 yen <JPY=>, off a one-month high of 90.78 yen hit after the
jobs data. It remains well above a 14-year trough of 84.82 yen
marked in late November on trading platform EBS.
                                
 Given growing speculation that the Fed may start boosting
interest rates sooner then previously thought, the dollar is seen
likely to extend its rally in the near-term, traders said.
                                
 Last month, the Fed reiterated that it would keep rates low
for an extended period.
                                
 The euro edged up 0.2 percent to $1.4883 <EUR=> after
dropping 1.3 percent on Friday.
                                
 Yen crosses were treading water, having risen steadily last
week, a trader said.
                                
 Against the Japanese currency, the euro fell 0.4 percent to
133.94 yen <EURJPY=R>. The Australian dollar was little changed
at 82.37 yen <AUDJPY=R>.
                                
 BERNANKE IN FOCUS
                                
 In addition to Fed rate speculation, the dollar's strong
performance late last week was due to massive unwinding of short
dollar positions as the year-end nears, traders and analysts
said.
                                
 Currency speculators increased bets against the dollar in the
week ending Dec. 1 to the most since at least June, 2008,
according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released
on Friday.
                                
 The value of the dollar's net short position rose to $21.8
billion from a net short position of $18.65 billion the week
before, according to the CFTC data, a Reuters calculation and
Reuters data. [ID:nN04176803]
                                
 Players are likely to further unwind short dollar positions
before the year ends, preventing the dollar from falling sharply
for now, said Hideki Hayashi, global economist at Mizuho
Securities.
                                
 But it is too early to say the dollar has reversed its
downward trend in the long-term, he said.
                                
 "Investors feel they need to see what Bernanke and other top
Fed officials think about the employment report before making
bets on the U.S. currency," said Hayashi.
                                
 Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak at an Economic Club of
Washington lunch later in the day. Traders will look for any hint
on the Fed's thinking on the economy and rates.
                                
 A Reuters poll showed on Friday that dealers' expectations
for when the Fed will raise its benchmark interest rate ranged
from the second quarter of 2010 to 2012. Most saw the central
bank hiking rates by the end of the first quarter of 2011.
[ID:nN06143330]
                                
 "The broader picture of dollar weakness has not changed and
recent gains in the currency are seen as market position
adjustments," said Hiroshi Maeba, deputy managing director at
Nomura Securities.
                                
 "It would be hard to say that the U.S. jobs report for a
single month alone will change the market direction. And the
market will check coming data such as retail sales, " he said.
  (Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Joseph
Radford)