* Wells Fargo earnings guidance boosts dollar vs yen
* U.S. weekly jobless claims better than expected
* ECB's Trichet says euro zone rates have room to fall
* BoE says it will continue quantitative easing
(Adds details, updates prices, changes byline)
By Vivianne Rodrigues
NEW YORK, April 9 (Reuters) - The dollar climbed against
the yen on Thursday as positive earnings news from Wells Fargo
and better-than-expected U.S. data helped spark a rally in
stocks, rekindling appetite for riskier assets.
Wells Fargo delivered an upbeat earnings outlook, saying it
expects record first-quarter earnings of about $3 billion. That
added to optimism about the health of the U.S. financial sector
and prompted investors to unwind bets in trades such as the
Australian dollar, financed by the yen's low rates. For more on
Wells Fargo click on [].
Further bolstering market confidence, analysts said, was a
report showing weekly U.S. jobless claims fell more than
expected and the trade deficit narrowed 28.3 percent in
February.
"The Wells Fargo news was tremendous and everyone seems to
be looking at a positive first quarter in the U.S.," said
Melvin Harris, a market strategist at Advanced Currency Markets
in New York. The combination of Wells Fargo news and the
jobless claims report "have pushed risk appetite dramatically
higher."
In afternoon trading in New York, the dollar was 0.8
percent higher versus the yen at 100.46 <JPY=>.
The euro fell to two-week lows versus the dollar at $1.3134
<EUR=> earlier. It last traded down 0.8 percent at $1.3150.
"This is mostly position-squaring and due to technicals.
There seems to be no news behind this euro/dollar move," said
Brian Dolan, chief currency strategist, at Forex.com in
Bedminster, New Jersey. "We had stops below $1.3220/30 and when
that was triggered, people just sold."
Volume was thin, he added, because of the long Easter
holiday weekend, exaggerating market moves. Financial markets
are closed on Good Friday, while the London market is closed
for Easter Monday.
Dan Cook, a currency analyst at IG Markets Inc. in Chicago
said a break in euro/dollar through the 1.31 level may hint at
further losses in the European currency to 1.2950 as early as
next week, "when we have full participation back in the
markets."
Against the yen, the euro was down 0.1 percent at 132.06
yen <EURJPY=> after trading higher for most of the session.
The euro was supported earlier by a rise in regional share
prices <>, although the currency retreated after European
Central Bank officials said the euro zone's main refinancing
interest rate has room to go lower. They also added that
additional non-standard measures are being planned.
[].
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said the bank had some
leeway to cut its main interest rate from its current record
low of 1.25 percent.
Currency markets have recently taken their cue from
equities as big U.S. firms kicked off first-quarter earnings
reports, with the focus on financial firms' results due next
week.
Sterling fell 0.2 percent to $1.4668 <GBP=> on news that
the Bank of England held interest rates at a record low 0.5
percent, as widely expected, and said it would continue with
quantitative easing.
The Australian dollar rose to US$0.7188 <AUD=>, up 1.3
percent, another indication of higher risk appetite.
(Additional reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by
Chizu Nomiyama)
