* US dollar, yen higher on caution over economy, earnings
* China, euro zone data dent optimism for global recovery
* Higher-yielding Australian, New Zealand dollars decline
(Adds comments, details, updates prices, changes byline)
By Nick Olivari
NEW YORK, April 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar and the
Japanese yen climbed against the euro on Thursday as weak
economic data around the world undermined hopes for an imminent global economic recovery and boosted safe-haven flows.
The dollar and yen tend to rise on bad news because they
are often seen as safer places to park money during periods of
market uncertainty and heightened risk aversion.
In a sign that the world economy is still struggling,
figures on Thursday showed China's annual economic growth
slowed to its weakest rate on record in the first quarter,
while euro zone industrial output plummeted in February.
U.S. housing starts and building permits both fell in
March while continued claims for jobless benefits rose to a
record high in early April as the recession bit and added to
the gloom. For details see [].
"The general theme is a slight rise in risk aversion that
was triggered by the disappointing Chinese GDP data and soft
euro zone economic figures overnight," said Omer Esiner, forex
market analyst at Ruesch International in Washington, DC.
"This week's data in particular has poured some cold water
on the idea of an imminent global recovery," he added.
In late afternoon New York trade, the dollar was little
changed against the yen at 99.35 yen <JPY=> while the euro fell
around 0.4 percent to 130.85 yen <EURJPY=>.
The yen also climbed against other major currencies, rising
0.3 percent against the Canadian dollar <JPYCAD=R>, 0.4 percent
against the Swiss franc <JPYCHF=R> and 0.4 percent against the
pound <JPYGBP=R>.
The euro <EUR=> was down 0.4 percent to $1.3170 after
sliding to a session low of $1.3128, according to Reuters
data.
While Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis
Lockhart said the U.S. recession should end by mid-year, with
growth slowly picking up in the following months, it was not
enough to offset the pessimism of the latest data.
[]
VERY SELECTIVE
Investor appetite for risk has picked up over the past
month as a rally in stocks and higher-than-expected bank
earnings fueled expectations that the financial sector and
global economy may be past their worst.
But caution returned to the market this week as optimism
over the global economy faded and the U.S. corporate earnings
season went into full swing.
Companies due to release earnings results on Friday include
Citigroup <C.N> and General Electric <GE.N>. They follow
better-than-expected earnings this week from JPMorgan Chase
<JPM.N> on Thursday and Goldman Sachs <GS.N>.
The International Monetary Fund said the global recession
is likely to be unusually long and severe and recovery
sluggish. []
"Risk appetite appears to be on the mend, but it's still
very selective," said Samarjit Shankar, director of global
foreign exchange strategy at the Bank of New York Mellon in
Boston.
Shankar said while his firm's flow data showed solid buying
of the Canadian dollar and the Norwegian crown, net selling of
the Australian and New Zealand dollars remained in place.
The Australian dollar fell 1.2 percent to $0.7196 <AUD=>
and the New Zealand dollar lost 1.8 percent to $0.5711 <NZD=>.
Overnight, official data showed China's annual economic
growth slowed to 6.1 percent in the first quarter, slightly
missing expectations of 6.3 percent. []
Separate figures showed euro zone industrial output
plummeted by a record 18.4 percent year-on-year in February and
inflation halved to an all-time low, reinforcing expectations
that the euro zone economy is deteriorating and that interest
rates may fall further. []
A member of the European Central Bank's Governing Council,
Nout Wellink, said on Thursday euro zone economic growth in the
first quarter was not that good, but said the negative trend
was starting to level off. [ID:nLG644332
(Additional reporting by Wanfeng Zhou; Editing by James
Dalgleish)
