* Cross/yen buoyed by higher stocks across Asia
* Dollar extends gains vs yen after touching 5-mth low on Mon
* Sentiment recovers slightly but market still cautious
By Kaori Kaneko
TOKYO, July 14 (Reuters) - The yen drifted lower on Tuesday
as higher stocks in Asia helped improve investor risk appetite,
but market participants remained cautious before earnings reports
from companies including Goldman Sachs <GS.N> as well as economic
data in the United States.
The dollar extended gains against the yen after hitting a
five-month low on Monday, but the market stayed range-bound amid
persistent worries over the global economy.
"Market sentiment has improved slightly compared to a few
days ago, but we still need to see the actual numbers in U.S.
results," said Mitsuru Sahara, chief manager at Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
The dollar rose 0.3 percent to 93.21 yen <JPY=> after hitting
a five-month low of 91.73 yen on electronic trading platform EBS
on Monday.
In addition to Goldman Sachs, Intel Corp <INTC.O> and Johnson
& Johnson <JNJ.N> release quarterly results on Tuesday.
"The market has already priced in positive numbers from
Goldman Sachs and further buying of the dollar and cross/yen will
be unlikely even after the results," said Yuji Saito, head of FX
sales department at Societe Generale.
The U.S. June Producer Price Index (PPI) and retail sales
data for the same month are also due today. The PPI will likely
show a 0.9 percent rise compared with a 0.2 percent climb in May,
and retail sales are expected to gain 0.4 percent after a 0.5
percent rise in May.
Dealers said there were sell orders for the dollar at the
upper end of the 93 yen range from Japanese exporters, which
capped the dollar's gains against the yen.
The euro gained 0.4 percent to 130.38 yen <EURJPY=R>, and it
was steady at $1.3978 <EUR=>.
The Australian dollar climbed 0.5 percent to 73.18 yen
<AUDJPY=R>, while the New Zealand dollar was up 0.2 percent at
58.97 yen <NZDJPY=R>.
Tokyo's Nikkei share average <> rose 2.3 percent, buoyed
by exporters after U.S. stocks climbed. []
U.S. shares rallied more than 2 percent on Monday as bullish
comments on financial sector performance from influential analyst
Meredith Whitney lifted hopes that banks' results may be stronger
than thought. Whitney, who has in the past been bearish, also
upgraded Goldman Sachs to a "buy", driving its stock higher. []
Dealers said it was too early to say market sentiment has
returned to a fully positive mood as U.S. economic data, notably
employment data, remains weak.
"I don't think people believe there will be upbeat earnings
from the U.S. Although there is no need to be pessimistic, there
are also earnings from the U.S. besides the banking sector to
assess," said Kosuke Hanao, head of Treasury products sales at
HSBC.
IBM <IBM.N> and General Electric <GE.N> release quarterly
earnings this week, as do Bank of America Corp <BAC.N>, JPMorgan
Chase & Co <JPM.N> and others. []
The Bank of Japan starts a two-day policy board meeting on
Tuesday and may announce that it will extend measures to support
corporate finance, although it is almost certain to keep its
policy rate unchanged at 0.1 percent. []
(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Joseph Radford)
