* Euro retreats from 5-month high vs dlr, falls vs yen
* Dollar close to lowest since Sept. 15 intervention vs yen
* Dollar index just above 8-month low
* Aussie slips from 2-year high on profit-taking
By Charlotte Cooper and Masayuki Kitano
TOKYO, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The dollar edged up from
five-month lows on Monday as the euro ran into profit-taking, and
it dug in against the yen as intervention jitters lent support.
With the end of Japan's fiscal first half approaching, the
dollar was expected by some to see selling pressure against the
yen, although others said this could be countered by yen sales
related to the launch of Japanese mutual funds on Monday.
"Since this is the week when the fiscal half-year comes to an
end, I think there will be a decent amount of (dollar) selling,"
said a senior trader at a major Japanese bank.
"But because we are in such a situation, that also means that
wariness toward intervention is strong."
He doubted the dollar would fall rapidly even if stop-loss
sell orders near 84.00 yen were triggered, adding: "It's scary to
sell the downside."
After spiking in Asian trade on Friday on rumours of further
intervention, the dollar eventually lost all its gains by the end
of the day and fell to its lowest since Japan launched
yen-selling currency intervention on Sept. 15.
It also dropped to an eight-month low against a basket of
currencies as speculation of more U.S. quantitative easing kept
it under pressure.
There was no confirmation of whether Japan's authorities had
intervened. Prime Minister Naoto Kan said in New York that he was
unaware of any new market intervention.
On Monday, the dollar held steady at 84.30 yen <JPY=>, above
Friday's low of 84.12 and more than a yen above the 15-year low
of 82.87 hit shortly before Japanese authorities acted nearly two
weeks ago to sell yen for the first time in six years.
A number of toushin, or Japanese mutual funds, are set to be
launched this week and their selling of the yen could support the
dollar, dealers said, although Monday's launches attracted a
relatively small amount from retail investors. []
EURO RALLY PAUSES
The dollar index <=USD><.DXY>, a measure of its performance
against six major currencies, was little changed at 79.35 after
dropping to its lowest in almost eight months on Friday at 79.25.
It fell through the 61.8 percent retracement of its rally
from November to June on Friday, a bearish signal.
Traders said the euro was facing some profit-taking against
the dollar after gaining 6 percent on the dollar this month and
hitting its highest since April on Friday at $1.3496 <EUR=>.
It stood at $1.3468 on Monday and faced significant
resistance at $1.3510, a 50 percent retracement of its fall from
above $1.51 last November to its June low below $1.19. There was
talk of a barrier at $1.3525 with stop-loss buy orders above that
level.
Analysts said some caution on the euro might also be setting
in ahead of European Central Bank tenders due to expire this
week.
Banks are preparing to repay 225 billion euros ($303.5
billion) of 12-, six- and three-month funds to the ECB on Sept.
30. They have the option of rolling lending over into three-month
and six-day operations.
"The last time this happened back in (late) June we had euro
weakness going into the expiry and then a relief rally
afterwards," said Gareth Berry, a currency strategist at UBS in
Singapore.
"The key question is how much of that liquidity will come
back into the system for another three months. If banks ask for
less than they return to the ECB that should be euro positive as
it's a sign that banks don't need as much as they had before."
The euro was little changed against the yen at around 113.50
yen <EURJPY=R>, after it hit its highest in nearly two months at
113.78 yen on Friday. It is up more than 6 percent against the
yen so far this month.
Likewise the Aussie, which has been driven by expectations of
higher interest rates and demand for Australian commodities, has
risen more than 7 percent on the yen in September.
It reached its strongest levels in four months last week,
above 81 yen <AUDJPY=R>. It stood at 80.68 yen on Monday, down
0.3 percent on the day.
The Australian dollar also succumbed to profit-taking and was
down 0.2 percent at $0.9575 <AUD=D4>, although it hit a two-year
high of $0.9623 earlier in the day.
($1=84.18 Yen; $1=.7413 Euro)
(Additional reporting by Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo and FX analysts
Rick Lloyd in Singapore and Krishna Kumar in Sydney; Editing by
Michael Watson)
