FOREX-Dollar rises vs yen in choppy FY-end trade

                                
 By Satomi Noguchi
                                
 TOKYO, March 31 (Reuters) - The dollar climbed against the
yen in choppy trade on Monday, boosted by unexpectedly strong
demand from Japanese importers and institutional investors on the
last day of Japan's fiscal year.
                                
 The U.S. currency edged up against a basket of currencies as
many investors closed their books for the business year and
awaited more clues on the health of the U.S economy from data due
later this week, including a much-anticipated jobs report.
                                
 "Year-end demand for the dollar from Japanese corporates and
investors was very strong and surprised the market," said Minoru
Shioiri, chief manager of forex trading at Mitsubishi UFJ
Securities.
                                
 "The market is divided on the dollar's near-term direction,"
he added. "One side says the dollar's sell-off has run its course
and we could see a small rebound, while others say that data this
week could revive the dollar's broad slide."
                                
 Traders said that life insurers bought the dollar earlier in
the session ahead of the fiscal year-end.
                                
 Such buying was not likely related to fresh overseas
investment given the market was still mired in the turmoil that
had pushed the dollar to a 13-year low of 95.77 yen this month,
they added.
                                
 The U.S. currency's rise was seen capped by Japanese
exporters repatriating funds at the year-end.
                                
 The dollar was up 0.6 percent at 99.70 yen <JPY=> from late
U.S. trade on Friday, after jumping to 100.20 yen from a low of
98.80 yen touched earlier in the session on electronic trading
platform EBS.
                                
 The dollar rose 0.2 percent against a basket of six
currencies to 71.675 <.DXY> and inched up 0.1 percent versus the
Swiss franc to 0.9962 franc <CHF=>.
                                
 The euro was little changed on the day at $1.5795 <EUR=>
after slipping to $1.5760 on EBS, well off a record high of
$1.5905 hit earlier this month.
                                
 The Australian dollar was flat at $0.9176 <AUD=>, recovering
after falling on risk aversion as regional shares tracked Wall
Street lower on signs of slowing consumption in the United States
and worries about more losses at financial firms.
                                
 Tokyo's Nikkei share average <.N225> was down 2.5 percent,
helping to dent investor tolerance of risky carry trades in which
low-yielding currencies are used to fund investment in
high-yielders such as the Aussie.
                                
 The dollar has taken on low-yielding status as the Federal
Reserve has slashed interest rates by a total of 3 percentage
points since September to 2.25 percent, eroding its yield appeal
against other currencies.
                                
 (Editing by Brent Kininmont)