* Yen rebounds from 1-mth low vs dollar as exporters buy
* Asian stocks fall, undermining risk appetite
* Market looking to U.S. financial stability plan on Tues
By Charlotte Cooper
TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The yen rose against the dollar on
Monday, rebounding from a one-month low as Japanese exporters
took the opportunity to buy it at cheaper levels and as investors
grew nervous in the wait for a U.S. bank bailout plan.
The Japanese currency had tumbled against the dollar and euro
on Friday as rising U.S. job losses spurred expectations for
quick progress on a U.S. economic stimulus package and bank
bailout plan, improving investors' appetite for risk.
But news the Obama administration had pushed back the bank
announcement to Tuesday from Monday undermined market confidence,
with Japan's Nikkei stock average <> falling and S&P futures
<SPc1> pointing to a weaker start on Wall Street. []
"Exporters seem to be selling dollar/yen so that's providing
yen support," said Sharada Selvanathan, currency strategist at
BNP Paribas in Hong Kong.
"But also Asian equity markets have not been able to hold on
to the gains we saw this morning, that's taking off some of the
steam with regards to the high-yielding currencies."
The dollar fell 0.8 percent to 91.11 yen <JPY=>, reversing an
early climb to a one-month peak of 92.42 on trading platform EBS.
The euro shed 1.2 percent to 117.39 yen <EURJPY=> while
sterling <GBPJPY=> fell more than 1 percent against the Japanese
currency and the Australian dollar <AUDJPY=> shed 2 percent.
"Some hedge funds also took profits on Friday's long euro/yen
strategy," said a senior dealer at a European bank.
The euro eased 0.3 percent to $1.2899 <EUR=> after climbing
more than 1 percent on Friday.
BANK PLAN
The U.S. financial stability plan is due to be outlined by
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at 1600 GMT on Tuesday.
Analysts said currencies would likely take their cue from how
stock markets react to the plan, with steps seen as effective in
shoring up the U.S. economy likely to boost investor confidence
at least in the short term.
"So even though we are seeing the yen higher today, that
could turn around if the market gives a vote of confidence
towards the plan," Selvanathan said.
Nonetheless analysts expected the week to be choppy.
"Things aren't necessarily improving but at least governments
are stepping in to help. But investors are still very nervous and
have been burned before. Putting on risky trades will take some
time," she said.
Some said the dollar could push towards 94.00 yen after it
broke above a triangle pattern on technical charts late last
week, although underlying risk aversion could make gains tricky.
The market was also trying to gauge whether Japanese
investors would repatriate funds from overseas assets ahead of
financial year book-closing at the end of March.
"Some people say that in February, Japanese will basically
only conduct fund repatriation," said Minoru Shioiri, chief
manager of foreign exchange trading for Mitsubishi UFJ
Securities.
Since February is a month when there is a relatively large
amount of coupon payments on U.S. Treasuries, there is focus on
the potential for dollar selling by Japanese players, he said.
Some $25 billion in coupon payments in Treasuries are due on
Feb. 15, according to U.S. Treasury Department data. In addition,
$36 billion in maturing coupon securities are due that day.
The market hardly reacted to data showing Japan's current
account surplus fell 92.1 percent in December from a year
earlier, and that Japan's core private-sector machinery orders
fell by a smaller-than-expected 1.7 percent in December.
Corporate bankruptcies soared in January, while a freeze in
capital markets forced Japanese companies to borrow from banks at
a record pace. []
(Additional reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Editing by Brent
Kininmont)
