(Corrects final para to show sterling hit highest since Feb)
* Dollar hits 15-yr low vs yen, below intervention levels
* Euro nears $1.40, focus on ECB's Trichet at 1230 GMT
* Aussie dollar surges to 27-yr high, close to parity
(Adds quote, detail)
By Neal Armstrong
LONDON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - The dollar's downtrend gathered
pace on Thursday as it slid to a 15-year low versus the Japanese
yen and an all-time low against the Swiss franc on the prospect
of more money-printing by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The Australian dollar surged to a 27-year high against its
U.S. counterpart after surprisingly strong jobs data revived
talk of a Reserve Bank rate hike, while broad dollar selling
pushed the euro to an eight-month high.
The Bank of England and the European Central Bank both stood
pat on their monetary policies on Thursday, underlining the
possibility that the Fed may lead the way into more aggressive
quantitative easing, which is seen knocking the dollar lower.
Traders waited to see whether ECB President Jean-Claude
Trichet makes any reference to currencies at a news conference
around 1230 GMT. They also awaited clues to whether the central
bank would scale back extraordinary funding measures soon.
The dollar's latest decline made traders nervous, as the
U.S. currency traded below levels where Tokyo intervened for the
first time in six years on Sept. 15.
Direct currency intervention and talk of monetary loosening
by central banks has ignited the issue of global imbalances
ahead of a Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers' and central
bankers' meeting this weekend, where the threat of a "currency
war" is likely to dominate discussion.
"The only story out there at the moment is what the
implications of another massive surge of QE means for the dollar
and global imbalances," said Maurice Pomery, managing director
of Strategic Alpha.
He added the meetings were unlikely to produce an agreement
on how to fix trade imbalances as countries act independently to
boost economic growth, which would likely push the dollar lower.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday
that countries must persuade their emerging counterparts such as
China to let their currencies rise or risk competitive
depreciations that would hurt the world economy. []
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For more on currency wars, click on
http://r.reuters.com/dyw27p
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At 1148 GMT the dollar was at 82.31 yen <JPY=> after hitting
a 15-year low at 82.24 on trading platform EBS.
"There is a chance the BOJ will come in again to slow the
pace of the yen's rise but they are swimming against the tide.
This dollar move is all about Fed policy," said Jane Foley,
senior currency strategist at Rabobank.
The dollar fell to a fresh 8 1/2-month low of 77.005 versus
a basket of currencies <.DXY> and an all-time low versus the
Swiss franc of $0.9555 on trading platform EBS.
AUSSIE SHINES
The Australian dollar <AUD=D4> surged to a 27-year high of
$0.9918 on the back of surprisingly strong Australian data.
Gains accelerated after the Australian currency triggered stops
above its 2008 high of $0.9851 and option barriers at $0.9900.
The euro <EUR=> rose to an 8-month high of $1.3997 on
Reuters data before running into heavy option-related offers
ahead of $1.4000. But traders reported good demand for one-month
$1.4150 strikes as the market speculated on further euro gains.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the euro is at $1.45 at some
stage next week," said Pomery at Strategic Alpha.
Sterling <GBP=D4> hit its highest since February at $1.6019,
rallying after the BoE rate decision. It recovered from a
five-month low versus the euro as investors closed short
positions taken out on on concerns that more monetary easing may
soon be needed.
