* Yen gives up some of previous session's gains
* But fall slows as China shares remain vulnerable
* Aussie up after upbeat RBA minutes
* New Zealand dollar drops after subdued inflation numbers
By Satomi Noguchi
TOKYO, April 20 (Reuters) - The yen slipped against other
major currencies on Tuesday as a sell-off in growth-linked
currencies waned and the Aussie firmed after upbeat central bank
minutes reinforced expectations for more interest rate rises.
Investor appetite for riskier assets was supported by some
positive U.S. earnings reports, which helped Wall Street shares
rise and countered fears about a broader regulatory impact from
the fraud case brought against Goldman Sachs <GS.N>.
Still, the yen's slide slowed as Chinese shares remained
vulnerable after suffering their biggest percentage loss since
last August, keeping investors away from risky currencies with
high volatility.
"There seems to be a pause in yen buy-backs for now on Wall
Street and good earnings results, but I am not sure whether the
yen's rise on risk-off moves is over yet," said a senior forex
manager at a UK bank said.
The dollar rose 0.3 percent from late New York trade to 92.64
yen <JPY=>, having gained nearly 0.3 percent the previous day.
Traders said the greenback was helped by demand from Japanese
importers, but those who have dollar/yen shorts are still holding
on to them on the view that upside risk for the yen remains high.
The yen tends to gain in times of greater aversion to risk as
investors unwind trades in which they use the low-yielding yen to
fund investments in higher-yielding currencies.
The yen was under pressure on the crosses, losing ground
against the euro and the Australian dollar <AUDJPY=R>.
The euro extended its bounce, gaining 0.3 percent to 124.94
yen
<EURJPY=R> on trading platform EBS, from Monday's three-week low
of 123.15 yen, with resistance seen around 125.82 yen, the day's
low on April 15, before it dropped sharply on Monday.
It dipped 0.1 percent to $1.3480 <EUR=>.
Concerns about Greece's debt crisis are never far away and it
faces its next funding test on Tuesday with an auction of 1.5
billion euros of 13-week Treasury bills.
ASIA RATES, G20 CAUTION
The Australian dollar edged up after minutes of the Reserve
Bank of Australia's (RBA) April policy meeting showed it felt it
was not prudent to delay a hike given an expected boom in the
country's terms of trade. []
Asian markets were also waiting to see if the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) raises rates and by how much, after tightening by
Singapore last week fuelled yuan revaluation talk and sent the
dollar down across the board.
"As far as Asia is concerned people are looking for signs of
tightening and if the RBA and the RBI are hawkish, there may be a
feeling that other central banks in Asia are going to follow
fairly soon," said Gerrard Katz, regional head of FX trading in
North Asia for Standard Chartered.
In contrast, the New Zealand dollar fell as benign inflation
data suggested there was no urgent need to lift rates, leading
investors to scale back expectations for when policy may tighten.
The Aussie rose 0.3 percent to $0.9283 <AUD=D4>, testing
resistance from moving averages on the hourly chart at that
level, while the kiwi fell 0.5 percent to $0.7102 <NZD=D4> after
the inflation data. []
The dollar index, a gauge of the greenback's value against a
basket of currencies <.DXY>, was flat at 80.98 after pulling back
from a high of 81.28. It had gained broadly on Monday after the
Goldman news sparked a bout of risk aversion.
Goldman faced rising regulatory and legal pressure on Monday
as allegations that the bank duped clients fuelled momentum for
regulatory reform on both sides of the Atlantic. []
Traders said this made building positions difficult as
political events include a Group of 20 financial leaders meeting
in Washington later this week, which could impact the debate over
financial regulation. []
"We have the G20 later this week and it feels like regulators
and politicians are going to be looking to tighten up control on
banks, so it's hard to see much recovery in stocks and it could
be a bit of a choppy trading week," said Katz in Hong Kong.
(Additional reporting by Anirban Nag in Sydney; Editing by
Joseph Radford)
