* Yen slips as short-term players trim positions
* Meeting between Japan PM, BOJ governor weighs on yen
* Euro initially climbs as stops above $1.3375 triggered
* But euro struggles as Greek worries fester
By Satomi Noguchi
TOKYO, April 9 (Reuters) - The yen retreated on Friday on
selling by short-term players on the view that the currency's
rise the previous day on talk of a near-term yuan revaluation was
overdone.
The euro rose earlier as investors trimmed record-high short
positions, but the single currency struggled to keep those gains
as worries about debt-laden Greece simmered in the background.
The yen was also under pressure as Japanese Prime Minister
Yukio Hatoyama and Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa held
a meeting on Friday, the first of regular talks between the
government and the central bank.
The outcome of the meeting offered no new trading incentives
but reminded the market that the BOJ will likely continue facing
government pressure to take further action to fight deflation.
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"What matters for the market is how this meeting will likely
impact BOJ policy meetings in the coming months, including the
next one at the end of the month," said a trader for a big
Japanese bank.
The meeting came just two days after the central bank decided
to hold off on new policy initiatives and gave a slightly more
positive view than before on the economy.
The dollar rose 0.2 percent from late New York trade to 93.54
yen <JPY=>, recovering from Thursday's low of 92.83 yen on
trading platform EBS. It was helped by demand from Japanese
companies and gains in other currencies versus the yen, traders
said.
The greenback had pulled back from a seven-month high of
94.78 yen hit on Monday as traders sped up their yen-buying amid
speculation that a revaluation of the Chinese yuan could come
before China's president visits Washington early next week.
Asian currencies are seen likely to gain from any move by
China to revalue its currency and the yen is perceived as a major
proxy for those regional units.
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Insider on yuan revaluation: http://link.reuters.com/xut96j
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The euro briefly extended its recovery from Thursday's low of
$1.3282 after European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet
assured markets that a Greece default is unlikely, prompting some
sovereign names to pick up the battered euro in the New York
session.
But the euro quickly erased its gains and fell 0.1 percent to
$1.3346 <EUR=> as sentiment towards the single currency remains
weak.
Against the yen, the euro <EURJPY=R> stood at 124.88 yen, up
0.1 percent on the day and above the previous day's low of 123.43
yen, but struggled to keep gains above 125 yen.
"Greece remains a focus in FX markets," JP Morgan said in a
report. "The next test is Greece's launch of its next bond issue.
So far, no date has been given, but they will require 10 billion
euros to meet May refunding."
The dollar index <.DXY> <=USD> was steady at 81.543.
Speculation about a firmer Chinese yuan has reached fever
pitch since The New York Times said China was close to announcing
a shift in policy involving a "small but immediate" yuan
revaluation.
(Additional reporting by Anirban Nag in Sydney; Editing by Chris
Gallagher)
