By Vivianne Rodrigues
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The yen rose to a 15-year high against the dollar and a nine-year peak versus the euro on Tuesday amid fears the global economy is slowing, testing Japanese authorities' resolve to stem the currency's climb.
The yen's rise accelerated as stop-loss sales were triggered in euro/yen at around 107 yen, while traders cited macro hedge-fund selling of the euro against the dollar.
Declines in stock markets and a weaker-than-expected housing report in the United States also helped buoy the yen and other safe havens such as the Swiss franc.
Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda declined to comment on the chance of currency intervention, saying only that recent currency moves were one-sided and disorderly moves could harm the stability of the economy and financial system. For more, see: [nTKX006945]
Traders took his comments as a sign the authorities were not yet ready to act to curb yen strength.
"Unless the Japanese step in with something more definitive, we will see speculative accounts drive the dollar/yen down to 80 yen," said Paul Robson, RBS Global Banking currency strategist.
"The 85 yen level was pretty important and now with that gone, dollar/yen falling to 80 is a real possibility. That will hurt the Japanese economy pretty hard, unless they do something more on the fiscal side or resort to more quantitative easing."
The greenback was last trading at a 15-year low at 83.82 yen in New York, down about 1.5 percent on the day.
Selling in the dollar accelerated after a report showed sales of previously owned U.S. homes dropped more steeply than expected in July.
Investors "are buying yen as a hedge against obviously poor economic news in the U.S. right now," said Greg Salvaggio, vice president of trading at Tempus Consulting in Washington. "We think 80 is clearly the next level (in dollar/yen) now."
The euro also fell against the yen to trade at 105.44 yen, its lowest since November 2001. It was last at 106.37 yen, down 1.2 percent on the day.
Technical analysts say the euro could be poised for a fall toward 105.00 yen, with interim support seen at 105.50 yen, around the low reached in September 2001.
Against the dollar, the single currency rebounded from a six-week low after the housing data to trade up 0.4 percent at $1.2693.
JAPANESE AUTHORITIES
Traders said the chances Japanese authorities would take measures in the coming weeks to stem the yen's rise had increased, particularly as the dollar approaches 80 yen.
They said the yen's surge on Tuesday had somewhat increased the previously negligible chances the Bank of Japan would ease monetary policy before its rate review next month.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa discussed the yen by phone on Monday, but Kan did not ask the central bank to ease monetary policy further and the two did not touch on currency intervention.
Japanese officials "missed some good opportunities to try to put a stop on the yen's rise," said Joe Manimbo, a currency trader at Travelex Global Business Payments, in Washington, D.C.
"They would need something really bold now to prevent traders to try and push dollar/yen to 80."
(Additional reporting by Wanfeng Zhou and Aleksandra Michalska in New York and Anirban Nag in London; Editing by Dan Grebler)
