* Aussie dlr hits 29-yr high; gold hits record
* Dollar index rises, but near last week's 3-yr low
* South Korean shares edge up, hit another all-time high
* Dollar/yen up on Japan importer bids, traders eye stops
(Update prices)
By Masayuki Kitano
SINGAPORE, April 25 (Reuters) - The Australian dollar hit a
fresh 29-year high and South Korea's benchmark share index
touched another record intraday high on Monday, suggesting
investors were still eager to embrace risk and higher-yielding
assets.
Commodities pushed higher with spot gold hitting a record
high of $1,517.71 an ounce and U.S. silver futures
<SIcv1> scaling a 31-year peak.
The dollar edged up 0.1 percent against a basket of
currencies to 74.086 , but remained within sight of a
trough of 73.735 struck last week, its lowest since August 2008.
The dollar rose 0.4 percent against the yen to 82.22
yen, supported by dollar-buying by Japanese importers and as
traders took aim at stop-loss dollar buying orders said to be
lurking near 82.50 yen.
"The market is thin today because London is closed today,
and people are basically just trying to trigger stops," said a
trader at a Japanese bank, referring to Easter Monday holidays
across much of Europe.
Markets are looking to a news conference by Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday after the bank's two-day
policy meeting to see how the central bank plans to exit from
its super-easy monetary policy.
Traders are also nervously watching Greece after newspaper
reports that it is considering extending maturities on its
sovereign debt as one option for a possible restructuring.
Most Asian stock markets were sluggish as they reopened
after the long Easter weekend, but South Korea's benchmark stock
index clawed above a peak scaled last week and hit another
record intraday high. The benchmark index was last up 0.9
percent at 2,217.59 .
Japan's benchmark Nikkei share average dipped 0.1 poercent
, but gains in shippers helped temper losses.
Japan's Nikkei business daily reported at the weekend that
earnings sharply rebounded at three major marine transport
companies in the year that ended on March 31.
Mitsui OSK Lines rose 2 percent, Nippon Yusen
gained 1.3 percent and Kawasaki Kisen added
0.7 percent.
"The shippers' gains are straightforward. The expectations
for good results reflect strong demand in the global economy and
they suffered relatively little damage from the March
earthquake," said Naoki Fujiwara, a fund manager at Shinkin
Asset Management.
The Australian dollar, which tends to attract buying when
the global economy is doing well and commodity prices rise,
touched a 29-year high of $1.0777 . It later trimmed its
gains to stand at $1.0735, little changed on the day.
U.S. crude futures oil rose as violence in Syria and Yemen
escalated over the weekend, stirring fears of supply disruptions
from the Middle East and North Africa.
NYMEX crude for June delivery <CLc1> edged up 30 cents a
barrel to $112.59.
U.S. 10-year Treasuries were little changed in price to
yield 3.396 percent , down about 1 basis point from
late U.S. trade on Thursday. The U.S. Treasury market was closed
on Friday for a U.S. holiday.
Stock markets in Australia and Hong Kong were closed on
Monday for a holiday.
(Additional reporting by Ayai Tomisawa and Hideyuki Sano in
Tokyo; Editing by Kim Coghill)
* For Reuters Global Investing Blog, click on
http://blogs.reuters.com/globalinvesting
* For the MacroScope Blog, click on
http://blogs.reuters.com/macroscope
* For Hedge Fund Blog, click on
http://blogs.reuters.com/hedgehub
