* Dlr/yen rises on intervention talk, then retreats
* Crude prices rise, world stocks flat
* German Ifo rises unexpectedly in Sept
By Dominic Lau
LONDON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The yen staged a partial
recovery from losses prompted by unconfirmed talk of central
bank intervention on Friday, while the euro rose on a stronger
than expected German business sentiment survey.
The Ifo German business climate survey helped ease some of
the concerns over the global economy recovery that had been
revived by data on Thursday showing new claims for U.S.
employment benefits rose last week.
Crude oil prices rose for the third day in a row and world
equities were steady after falling 0.5 percent the previous
session.
Talk that Tokyo was intervening in the market to weaken the
yen for the second time this month had helped the Nikkei share
benchmark <> cut its losses by boosting the shares of
exporting companies, though the index ended 1 percent lower when
no confirmation of the intervention rumours emerged.
That still left investors edgy and with risk aversion
hitting markets, traders said the Bank of Japan's task of
weakening the yen was becoming even tougher.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For cross/yen graphic http://link.reuters.com/tuh34p
For graphic on intervention http://link.reuters.com/qep63p
For Japan Treasury buying http://r.reuters.com/wym42p
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"The price action certainly suggested that the Japanese
intervened, but one can't be sure," said Kenneth Broux, markets
strategist at Lloyds TSB Financial Markets.
"With stock markets retreating and a general pullback in
risk appetite, the yen and the Swiss franc will be supported,
making the BoJ's job harder."
The U.S. currency added 0.2 percent to 84.53 yen <JPY=>
after rising as high as 85.40 earlier in the day. The greenback
is still down 9 percent this year against the yen, which tends
to strengthen when concerns mount over global growth.
The dollar had had fallen to 84.26 yen on Thursday, its
lowest level since Tokyo intervened last week, and traders said
major Japanese banks were now bidding it up.
The euro was up 0.7 percent at $1.3407 <EUR=> after the
Munich-based Ifo think tank said its business climate index,
based on a monthly survey of some 7,000 firms, rose to 106.8
from 106.7 in August. The shared currency added 1 percent to
113.34 yen <EURJPY=>.
WORLD STOCKS EASE
World stocks measured by the MSCI All-Country World Index
<.MIWD00000PUS> were flat, and the Thomson Reuters global stock
index <.TRXFLDGLPU> dipped 0.5 percent.
U.S. stock index futures <SPc1> <DJc1> <NDc1> gained around
0.4 percent, indicating a firmer opening for Wall Street, ahead
of durable goods and new home sales data.
In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index eased 0.3
percent, down for the fourth straight session, while the Thomson
Reuters Peripheral Eurozone Countries Index <.TRXFLDPIPU> added
0.5 percent.
"Yesterday's U.S. jobless figures just added a little fuel
to the fire. Concerns over Ireland are still very much there in
the background," said Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves
Lansdown. "Investors are going to remain very data-sensitive."
The premium investors demand to hold 10-year Portuguese
government bonds rather than lower-risk German Bunds rose to a
new lifetime high of 414 basis points (bps), around three bps
higher than the previous peak reached on Thursday.
The Irish spread, which also hit record highs on Thursday
after data showed the country's economy shrank more than
expected in the second quarter, was steady at around 440 bps.
Spain will detail a harsh budget for 2011 later in the day,
confirming cuts to public spending and a likely tax hike on the
wealthy as it battles to assure markets it is in control of
slashing its deficit. []
Oil prices <CLc1> added 0.3 percent to trade above $75 a
barrel and are up 2.6 percent this week.
(Additional reporting by Elaine Lies in Tokyo, Kevin Plumberg
in Hong Kong, Atul Prakash and Kirsten Donovan in London;
Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
