* US dollar broadly higher as risk appetite remains low
* Uncertainty over ECB policy path weighs on euro
* Moody's puts Ireland's sovereign rating on review
* Swiss franc tumbles after SNB Roth's comments
(Recasts, updates prices)
By Nick Olivari
NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar touched a
one-month high against the euro on Friday after comments from
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet failed to
dispel uncertainty about the bank's future policy path.
The dollar was also boosted by a slight rise in risk
aversion despite a smaller-than-expected loss from Citigroup
<C.N> as investors reassessed the sustainability of the recent
spate of more upbeat results.
In a speech in Tokyo, the ECB's Trichet, who is to unveil
the bank's plans for unconventional policy steps next month,
gave no details of these measures, saying he did not want to
create expectations.
Concerns over a split in the ECB's governing council and
uncertainty over the central bank's next move on interest rates
and non-standard measures have weighed heavily on the euro in
recent sessions.
"The market is getting increasingly disappointed with the
ECB's policy stance," said Vassili Serebriakov, currency
strategist at Wells Fargo in New York.
"Trichet failed to clarify the central bank's position on
either rates or prospects for non-conventional easing
measures," he added. "We could see some stand-alone euro
weakness across the board."
In midafternoon New York trading, the euro fell 1.1 percent
to $1.3036 <EUR=>, still near the session low of $1.3027,
according to Reuters data, its weakest since March 18, when the
dollar fell sharply after the Federal Reserve announced its
plan to buy government bonds.
Besides the Fed, central banks in Britain and Japan have
started quantitative easing measures to fight the deepening
recession around the world.
The dollar was little changed against the yen and last
traded at 99.28 yen <JPY=>.
"A little bit of risk aversion and euro weakness ... is
boosting the dollar," said Paresh Upadhyaya, a portfolio
manager at Putnam Investments in Boston.
Despite the better-than-expected results from Citigroup,
"the market still remains skeptical about what this means going
forward for the financial sector," he said.
TRICHET, SNB
Also hurting the euro were Trichet's comments in Tokyo,
which analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman said were seen as "a
possible warning" to ECB members who have recently expressed
different views on the bank's next policy move on both rates
and nonconventional measures.
Trichet, in his speech, said, "Any ambiguity in our
medium-term policy direction would delay the return of
sustainable prosperity."
"The euro is the star underperformer (in recent
sessions)...because of question marks over the direction of
monetary policy." Putnam's Upadhyaya said. "Markets have been
questioning the ECB's stubbornness in easing monetary policy or
(its) stubbornness to react in a pro-active manner."
Adding to pressure on the euro was a warning from ratings
firm Moody's Investors Service that Ireland's "AAA" rating may
be cut to mid-to-high Aa range if it concludes that the country
will emerge from the crisis with relatively weak growth
prospects and a much higher debt burden. [].
Against the yen, the euro dropped below 130 to trade down
1.2 percent at 129.40 yen <EURJPY=>.
The Swiss franc fell sharply against the euro and dollar
after Swiss National Bank Chairman Jean-Pierre Roth warned the
central bank was ready to intervene should the Swiss franc
strengthen. For more, see []
The dollar last traded up 1.8 percent at 1.1677 francs
<CHF=> after hitting a session peak of 1.1688 francs, according
to Reuters data.
(Reporting by Nick Olivari and Wanfeng Zhou)
