* Dollar index <.DXY> dips, near recent 4-month low
* Euro, Aussie, sterling remain on uptrends vs dollar, yen
* Gain on Wall St sees pick-up in riskier trades
* But market lacks conviction to push them higher in Asia
By Charlotte Cooper
TOKYO, May 15 (Reuters) - The dollar was back on the
defensive on Friday, holding close to a four-month low, after a
climb in U.S. stocks gave investor confidence a lift and boosted
the fortunes of riskier currencies.
The euro, sterling and the Australian dollar held on to gains
made on Thursday against the greenback and the yen, keeping
within sight of recent highs made as optimism has grown that the
worst of the global economic crisis may be over.
But they lacked conviction to push any higher against the
dollar, even though stock markets in Asia were on the rise, and
traders said the rally had run out of steam for now.
"The dollar still looks soft but people don't want to sell it
too aggressively at these kind of levels," said Gerrard Katz,
regional head of FX trading at Standard Chartered in Hong Kong.
"We've moved a fair bit already so fresh selling is not
rushing into the market."
The dollar dipped 0.1 percent against a basket of six major
currencies to 82.361 <.DXY>, holding close to a four-month low on
the index set on Wednesday at 81.871.
It has lost 9 percent against the euro since early March, but
the European currency is now struggling to break above $1.3740,
where resistance from a 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement of its
2008 fall from above $1.60 has blocked its path.
The euro hit a seven-week high at $1.3722 this week, but was
0.1 percent lower on the day at $1.3630 <EUR=>.
Analysts said euro zone and U.S. data might offer some
direction later as investors assess relative economic recovery
prospects and monetary policies. The Federal Reserve is engaged
in keeping interest rates low by buying government debt but
European Central Bank policymakers differ on the scale of asset
purchases they should use to support the economy. []
Euro zone gross domestic product data due at 0900 GMT is
forecast to show the region's economy shrank 2.0 percent in the
first quarter from the previous three months, more than a 1.6
percent fall in the prior quarter.
RETAIL INTEREST
Data showed Japanese margin traders trimmed net long
positions in sterling and the euro against the yen on Thursday
and their net yen short positions in major cross/yen pairs and
dollar/yen fell by 1,077 contracts to 113,423, down slightly from
a two-week high of 114,500 on Wednesday.
However, retail traders are still adding to long positions in
Aussie/yen and kiwi/yen and also raised their net longs in
dollar/yen on Thursday when the greenback hit a two-month low of
95.10 yen on trading platform EBS.
The dollar edged up 0.1 percent to 95.84 yen <JPY=>.
The Australian dollar, which hit seven-month highs against
both the yen and the dollar this week, has been a favourite play
for short-term speculators looking to benefit when the global
economy bottoms out.
It climbed more than 1 percent against the dollar on Thursday
but then paused at $0.7595 <AUD=D4> and 72.75 yen <AUDJPY=R>,
barely changed from late U.S. trade.
The New Zealand dollar <NZD=D4> fell, dropping 0.5 percent to
$0.5931 <NZD=D4> after weak first-quarter retail sales figures
and comments from the International Monetary Fund that New
Zealand may have to ease monetary policy further. []
[]
The New Zealand dollar broke above its 200-day moving average
last week and hit a six-month high of $0.6127 this week, just
short of a 38.2 percent retracement of its fall to its March 2009
low from its March 2008 high that lies near $0.6163.
The kiwi's dip below its five-day moving average this week
and the fact that its 200-day moving average is trending
downwards suggest that the kiwi may ease in the near term, said
Masashi Hashimoto, senior analyst for Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi
UFJ.
The kiwi may dip towards its 21-day moving average near
$0.5770, Hashimoto said, adding that one point to watch will be
whether it manages to stay above that support.
(Additional reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Editing by Chris
Gallagher)
