* Yen hits 15-year high vs dollar after Japan party vote
* Global equities edge down after hitting 4-mth high
* Weak German ZEW weighs on sentiment, U.S. data awaited
* MSCI world equity index down 0.1 pct
By Jessica Mortimer
LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The yen hit a 15-year high
versus the dollar on Tuesday after Japan's Prime Minister Naoto
Kan won a ruling party leadership vote, while concerns about a
shaky recovery knocked global stocks off a 4-month peak.
The euro fell against the dollar while euro zone bond prices
gained as a sharp fall in German investor morale suggested the
recovery in Europe's largest economy is poised to lose momentum.
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In Japan, Kan's victory over party heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa,
who had made more strident calls to curb the yen's rise, raised
speculation that Japanese authorities would not intervene
imminently. The yen <JPY=> firmed to 83.07 per dollar, its
strongest since mid-1995.
"The threat of intervention will hang over the market but
will there be international cooperation? Probably no. So the
market will continue to test Kan's resolve," said Simon Derrick,
head of currency research in Bank of New York Mellon.
European shares <> were steady while U.S. equity
futures <SPc2> <DJc2> pointed to a slightly lower opening on
Wall Street on nervousness that U.S. retail sales data at 1230
GMT could give another bleak picture of the U.S. economy. <ECON>
These concerns helped push the MSCI world equity index
<.MIWD00000PUS> down 0.1 percent to 297.93. Earlier, the index
had hit a four-month peak of 298.50 as stocks benefited from a
wave of more optimistic sentiment generated by solid Chinese
data and relief at new Basel III banking rules.
"Trading in global equity markets is dominated by short-term
views. Equity strength is fraught with dangers as investors are
very fearful about what is around the corner," said Maurice
Pomery, managing director at consultants Strategic Alpha.
Investors' search for safe-haven assets also set gold <XAU=>
on track for its biggest one-day rise this month, while the
dollar fell below parity versus the Swiss franc <CHF=> for the
first time since December last year.
MORE YEN GAINS?
The low-yielding yen has gained broadly as investors have
retreated from riskier assets. Some traders say any dollar
rebound could be limited by expectations Japanese exporters will
sell more dollars before their half-year book closing on Sept.
30.
"Clearly the market viewed the (Japan party vote) result as
yen positive, and the yen is likely to continue drifting
higher," said Christian Lawrence, currency strategist at RBC.
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PDF presentation on the yen: http://r.reuters.com/zuz33p
PDF on Japan leadership vote: http://r.reuters.com/vyk92p
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The euro <EUR=> was down 0.3 percent to $1.2844, while the
dollar was steady against a basket of currencies <.DXY> at
81.954 after earlier touching a one-month low of 81.660.
German bund futures <FGBLc1> rose 67 ticks to 130.59.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> shed 38 cents to $76.80 per barrel,
off an earlier one-month high above $77 pending inventory
reports expected to show crude stock draws as the shutdown of
the biggest Canada-U.S. pipeline enters a fifth day.
(Additional reporting by Tamawa Desai; Editing by Ruth
Pitchford)
