* Yen falls on crosses as Intel improves risk appetite
* Dollar falls against Asian currencies after MAS move
* Fed's Bernanke to testify on economic outlook at 1400 GMT
By Charlotte Cooper
TOKYO, April 14 (Reuters) - The low-yielding yen fell on
Wednesday as upbeat earnings from technology bellwether Intel
boosted appetite for riskier currencies while policy tightening
by Singapore helped send the greenback lower across the board.
The euro and the Australian dollar climbed against both the
the U.S. and Japanese currencies, and the dollar index <.DXY>
fell after the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) tightened
policy by effectively revaluing the Singapore dollar.
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Markets took the move as a signal of the central bank's
confidence in the economic outlook, as it also shifted policy to
modest and gradual FX appreciation, and it revived speculation
about when China might revalue the yuan.
The MAS decision also fed into positive risk sentiment
already stoked by better-than-expected forecasts from Intel Corp
<INTC.O>, which boosted technology stocks around the region,
helping higher-yielding currencies and denting the yen.
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"The dollar is being sold against Asia and that's extended to
the majors," said Robert Ryan, FX strategist at BNP Paribas in
Singapore.
"Risk-on is the order of day at least in Asia but I wonder
how much the MAS influence will extend into Europe."
The euro climbed 0.3 percent on the day to 127.25 yen
<EURJPY=R>, moving above its 100-day moving average at 127.03 yen
and edging up towards resistance from a previous high at 128.
The Australian dollar gained 0.4 percent to 86.86 yen
<AUDJPY=R>, although it remained short of a recent 18-month peak
at 87.51 yen. The pound gained 0.3 percent <GBPJPY=R>.
The dollar fell 0.3 percent on the index measuring its
performance against six other major currencies <.DXY> to 80.257.
It breached its 55-day moving average at 80.49 and was nearing a
one-month low set on Monday.
"The Sing reweighting of the basket and appreciation stance
is having a big impact on dollar/Asia with a lot of selling
across the board," said a senior trader at a European bank in
Hong Kong.
Speculation about when China might revalue was going to stay,
he said. "It's just going to come and go in intensity."
"What Singapore did this morning just increases the pressure
on China because the rationale for Singapore to allow currency
strength is similar for why China should de-peg. It's domestic
reasons rather than just external pressure," he said.
BERNANKE TIME
The Australian dollar rose 0.3 percent to $0.9312 <AUD=D4>,
pushing through a psychological barrier at $0.9300 but failing to
top a five-month peak just below $0.9400 set on Monday.
The euro, which is still enjoying a rebound stemming from
short-covering after a rescue package for Greece at the weekend,
rose 0.3 percent to $1.3650 <EUR=>, although it too hasn't made
it through a high set on Monday of $1.3692 and analysts said
fiscal concerns about Greece had far from gone away.
The market is also awaiting a testimony by Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke on the economic outlook before the Joint
Economic Committee of Congress. That is due at 1400 GMT.
Several Fed officials are also due to speak and the market
will be watching for retail sales data due at 1230 GMT.
There has been speculation Bernanke might use the forum to
talk about normalising the spread between the fed funds and
discount rates but analysts said they expected him to reaffirm
the Fed's current stance of "low-for-long" rates.
"It's not the right timing although markets might be
sensitive to the retail sales numbers," said Tomoko Fujii, senior
currency strategist at Bank of America Securities-Merrill Lynch.
"In case of upside risk some market participants may
speculate for a change towards a hawkish tone but it's still too
premature."
The dollar was flat at 93.25 yen <JPY=>, with talk of an
options strike at around 93.20.
Japan's third largest life insurer, Meiji Yasuda Life
Insurance Co., said it planned to boost its unhedged foreign bond
holdings by 300 billion yen ($3.2 billion) this financial year,
and cut its hedged foreign bond debt due to rising hedging costs.
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Japanese life insurers are watching for when U.S. rates start
to rise, a change which would push up hedging costs and could see
some buy more unhedged bonds, a shift likely to weigh on the yen.
The New Zealand dollar <NZD=D4> bucked the trend and fell 0.3
percent to $0.7115, after data showed a drop in retail sales
during February. The patchy set of data prompted the market to
push back chances of an interest rate hike in coming months.
(Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Joseph
Radford)
