* Dollar dips to 83.07 yen on EBS; 15-year low
* Japan PM Kan wins ruling party leadership vote
* German ZEW index takes shine off euro
* Dollar falls to 9-mth low vs Swiss franc, below parity
(Adds quotes, updates prices)
By Tamawa Desai
LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The dollar fell to a new 15-year
low against the yen on Tuesday as Japanese Prime Minister Naoto
Kan won the ruling party leadership vote, raising speculation
Tokyo would not act immediately to stem the yen's rise.
Kan will keep his job after an unexpectedly decisive victory
over party heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa, who had made more strident
calls to curb the yen's advance. []
By 1120 GMT, the dollar was down 0.6 percent to 83.18 yen,
after dipping to 83.07 yen on trading platform EBS. Buying ahead
of option barriers at 83.00 yen contained the downside, traders
said. Stop-loss orders were seen below at 82.85/90 yen.
"With the market having positioned for a Kan victory, the
scope for considerable further yen appreciation may be limited,"
said Derek Halpenny, European head of global currency research
at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
"The one negative aspect for Kan ... is that he only got
50.7 percent of the vote of Diet members. This hardly gives Kan
a strong mandate for leading the country and we suspect once the
markets focus on this aspect the yen may weaken back a bit."
Still, traders said any dollar rise may be short-lived,
with Monday's 84.43 intraday peak seen as the first point of
resistance, due to expectations Japanese exporters would sell
more dollars before their half-year book closing on Sept. 30.
"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 at Bank of New York Mellon.
Analysts said if the dollar falls past 83 yen and hits 82
yen in a couple of hours, the risk of intervention would rise
dramatically.
"With the political drama out of the way, economics will
drive intervention and if there is a rapid appreciation you
could see them coming to stop it," said a currency strategist at
a Japanese bank.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
PDF presentation on the yen: http://r.reuters.com/zuz33p
PDF on Japan leadership vote: http://r.reuters.com/vyk92p
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
EURO SAGS ON ZEW
The euro hovered near the day's low against the dollar of
$1.2830 <EUR=> after the German ZEW economic sentiment index
fell more than expected in September. []
It pared some of Monday's gains made on solid Chinese data
and relief over new Basel III banking rules. A major resistance
point was seen at $1.2920-30, a level that has blocked the
currency several times since August.
The dollar fell below parity against the Swiss franc to hit
a nine-month low of 0.9996 francs on EBS, and a one-month low
against a basket of currencies <.DXY>.
"The franc was helped by a lot of customer flows from
Europe, investors who are moving away from risk," said Paul
Robson, currency strategist at RBS.
The dollar index <.DXY> edged higher to 81.98, bouncing from
its 200-day moving average at 81.761. A clear break below that
could stoke expectations of further weakness in the U.S.
currency.
Market players will look to U.S. retail sales data due at
1230 GMT and expected to rise 0.3 percent in August from the
previous month. A lower-than-expected reading could trigger
further yen gains against the dollar, some traders said.
(Additional reporting by Anirban Nag; Editing by Susan Fenton)
