* Yen falls against most major currencies
* Euro rebounds after broad sell-off on Wednesday
* Euro rises for first day in four against yen
* Higher global stocks lend some support to risk takers
(Recasts, adds comments, details, changes byline)
By Vivianne Rodrigues
NEW YORK, May 14 (Reuters) - The dollar rose against the
safe-haven yen on Thursday in choppy trading, as rising stocks
in Europe and in Wall Street supported a modest increase in
risk appetite, hurting the Japanese currency.
Investors shrugged off recent weak U.S. economic data and,
with the upbeat tone in financial markets, favored buying
higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar and
Norwegian crown.
"There's been a lot of randomness in forex trading lately
and there are many headwinds facing the dollar, but some
investors may have gone too short on the currency and in days
of lower risk aversion they may buy some back," said Benedikt
Germanier, a currency strategist at UBS AG.
Germanier warned though that dollar gains versus the yen
may be limited.
"Japanese investors are once again investing domestically,
cutting their exposure to assets outside Japan and other
cyclical factors may favor the yen, which is a highly liquid
currency," he said.
Germanier said he holds a "neutral view" on euro/dollar
currently but sees more arguments to short the U.S. currency
versus the yen.
Both the dollar and yen typically rise when investors turn
risk averse and slip when risk appetite rises. But dealers said
the dollar was gaining at the expense of the yen on Thursday
after weakening against the Japanese currency earlier this
week.
"There's been some opportunistic buying on dollar (versus
yen) and on the euro today," said Matthew Strauss, a senior
currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto. "But
there's still not a lot of conviction out there. For real
direction on the major currency pairs, we need more data."
The euro, which tends to prosper as investors turn more
optimistic, rose against the yen for the first time in four
days and was up slightly against the dollar.
In afternoon trading in New York, the euro was last 0.3
percent higher at $1.3634 <EUR=>, after touching a session high
of $1.3646, according to Reuters data. The euro was 0.5 percent
higher against the yen at 130.36 <JPY=>, after briefly touching
130.48.
The dollar rose 0.4 percent versus the yen to 95.81 <JPY=>.
PREMATURE OPTIMISM
The dollar initially fell against the Japanese currency
after data showed U.S. jobless claims rose to 637,000 in the
latest week, compared with forecasts of 610,000, but later
recovered as stocks rose. []
Sterling was also 0.6 percent higher at $1.5236 <GBP=>,
suggesting that at least on Thursday the risk outlook has
improved. The Australian dollar, another proxy for risk much
like the pound, gained as well, rising 1.1 percent to US$0.7615
<AUD=> after a sharp slide on Wednesday.
Some analysts have warned though that optimism about a
global recovery may be premature, given the surge in jobless
claims and an unexpected decline in U.S. retail sales.
Most have also cited concerns that lending to corporates
and consumers have remained tight despite billions of
government money injected into financial institutions.
"People think the equity rally is overextended and it may
fall short," said Dustin Reid, senior currency strategist at
RBS Global Banking and Markets in Chicago.
He believes investors would take profits on gains in
certain higher-yielders such as the Australian dollar on any
indication that the global growth cycle may not advance as
previously thought.
Meanwhile, the euro climbed to intraday peaks against the
Swiss franc at 1.5085 francs <EURCHF=>, boosted by comments
from Swiss National Bank board member Thomas Jordan who said he
does not want the franc to strengthen versus the single
currency. It later eased to 1.5065 francs, little changed on
the day.
Jordan made the remarks to reporters on the sidelines of
the Swiss Economic Forum in Thun. For his comments, see
[].
(Additional reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing
by Andrea Ricci)
