* Yen, dollar gain as equities, oil prices turn lower
* Falls in equities, oil encourage profit-taking in risky FX
* Aussie edges lower from 10-month highs after RBA
* Some caution ahead of ECB, BoE decisions, US jobs data
(Adds quote, update prices, changes byline)
By Jessica Mortimer
LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - The yen and the dollar gained on
Tuesday as falls in equity and oil prices encouraged investors
to take profits on some of the recent sharp gains in higher risk
and commodity-based currencies.
Investors' underlying positive stance towards risky assets
remained intact, however, and the euro continued to hover not
far from Monday's 2009 high against the dollar.
European shares fell 0.8 percent <>, correcting lower
after hitting a 9-month high, while S&P 500 futures were down
0.7 percent <SPc1>, pointing to a lower start on Wall Street
after the S&P 500 index topped the 1,000 mark on Monday.
Analysts said this helped the yen and the dollar recoup some
of their recent heavy losses, which accompanied a jump in risk
appetite as investors became increasingly confident of an
improvement in the global economy.
"We have seen some consolidation and some profit-taking in
higher risk currencies, but the bias is still to the upside for
risk," Barclays Capital currency strategist Adarsh Sinha said.
"We saw a big, big moves yesterday and on Friday and
relative to that the reversal in the dollar and the yen today
has been small," he said.
Better-than-expected second quarter company results,
brighter manufacturing reports from the U.S., Europe and China,
and stimulative policy measures have boosted hopes the global
economy may have bottomed out from its worst recession in
decades.
But analysts noted some caution ahead of key events this
week, including policy decisions by the European Central Bank
and the Bank of England on Thursday and U.S. non-farm payrolls
data on Friday.
By 1127 GMT, the euro was down 0.2 percent against the
dollar at $1.4385, though still not far from a nine-month high
of $1.4445 <EUR=> hit on Monday.
Traders said some options with a strike price of $1.4450
were set to expire later in the day, which may be capping moves.
Technical analysts see the euro rising to $1.4720, hit in
mid-December last year, and possibly pushing higher.
The yen was the main outperformer, however, with the dollar
down 0.6 percent at 94.73 yen <JPY=> and the euro down 0.8
percent at 136.25 yen <EURJPY=R>.
The dollar earlier fell some two yen from the day's high to
94.37 yen <JPY=>, as traders said selling accelerated after
stop-losses were hit at 94.50 yen.
The dollar index was up slightly at 77.682 <.DXY>, off a
10-month low of 77.415.
COMMODITY FX FALL
Falls in the prices of oil <CLc1> and metals such as copper
on Tuesday weighed on commodity-based currencies like the
Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars, which had all hit
multi-month highs in early trade, buoyed by the rally in risky
assets.
The Australian dollar relinquished gains made after the
Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged as
expected but dropped its easing bias, backing expectations for a
rate hike by the end of the year. [].
The Australian dollar was down 0.3 percent from late U.S.
trade at $0.8395 <AUD=D4> after rising to $0.8471 on the Reuters
dealing system, the highest since late September.
"The end of the Aussie bull run will happen when the RBA
actually raises rates, as investors take their money off the
Aussie and on currencies where rates will rise next," said Neil
Jones, head of European hedge fund sales at Mizuho in London.
The New Zealand dollar fell 0.3 percent to $0.6658 after
earlier rising to $0.6712, its highest in 10 months <NZD=D4>.
The U.S. dollar was also up 0.3 percent against the Canadian
dollar at C$1.0684 <CAD=>.
Sterling was steady on the day against the dollar at $1.6935
after it touched a new nine-month high of $1.7005 <GBP=D4>
earlier in the session.
(Additional reporting by Tamawa Desai in London; Editing by
Richard Balmforth)
