* Dollar at 85.50 yen, wary of further intervention by
Tokyo
* Traders watching how yen performs vs non-dollar
currencies
* Japan exporter stocks outperform on hopes for yen
weakness
* Broader Asian share markets weaker as U.S. data
disappoints
By Kevin Plumberg
HONG KONG, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The yen drifted higher on
Thursday as traders waited to see if Tokyo would intervene in
currency markets for a second day, while Japanese stocks edged
up to a one-month high, led by exporters.
Japan's solo intervention to weaken the yen on Wednesday
arrived sooner than many market participants had expected,
causing investors to suspect other Asian governments may keep
their currencies weak and pushing up longer-term U.S. Treasury
yields. []
For a yen PDF, click: http://r.reuters.com/zuz33p
"After Japan joined the club of Asian central banks by
intervening in the FX market, investors will now look to
determine how successful the policy will turn out be," Mitul
Kotecha, global head of foreign strategy at Credit Agricole
CIB, said in a note.
"In the near term there will be wariness of further
intervention to push the yen weaker, which will also keep other
Asian currencies on the back foot."
Asia's currencies are a major focus among investors
globally, especially with Chinese government setting the yuan's
mid-point <CNY=SAEC> for its trading range at a
post-revaluation high for the fifth day in a row.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will tell
policymakers later in the day that he is looking for ways to
get Beijing to move faster, his prepared remarks to Congress
showed.
Japanese equities have been underperforming other advanced
markets this year as the yen rose more than 11 percent against
the dollar, threatening its export competitiveness, so Tokyo's
yen selling has caused a rush to search for bargains,
especially among liquid exporter stocks.
* The U.S. dollar was down 0.4 percent at 85.38 yen, not
too far from Wednesday's high of around 85.75 yen <JPY=>.
Dealers may test Japan's resolve to keep the yen weak on
Thursday.
* Euro is down 0.3 percent against the yen at 111.17 yen
<EURJPY=R>.
* Japan's Nikkei share average rose 0.7 percent to highest
since August 10. Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> and TDK Corp
<6762.T> were among the biggest lifts to the Nikkei.
* The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan
slipped 0.2 percent <.MIAPJ0000PUS> on profit taking in the
materials sector and after disappointing U.S. economic data,
though major U.S. share indexes ended higher overnight. []
* Commodity sector has outperformed the MSCI index,
climbing 20 percent since June compared with the index's
returns of 16 percent.
* 10-year U.S. Treasury yield flat at 2.72 percent
<US10YT=RR> after climbing 4 basis points on Wednesday.
* Gold edges up 0.1 percent to $1,267.35 an ounce <XAU=>
after hitting a record high of $1,274.75 on Tuesday.
* U.S. crude fell for a third straight day, down 0.5
percent to $75.64 a barrel <CLc1>, after Enbridge said U.S.
regulators have agreed to a Friday restart of the company's
biggest pipeline from Canada, restoring crude supplies to
Midwest refiners.
(Editing by Kim Coghill)
