Yen on back foot as Japan PM touts slow rate hikes, Aussie steady before jobs data

By Kevin Buckland TOKYO (Reuters) -The yen wallowed near a record low versus the euro and a nine-month trough to the dollar on Thursday after Japan's new premier said she wants the central bank to go slow on interest rate hikes. The Aussie dollar hovered near its strongest level since the start of the month ahead of employment data due later in the day. Currency markets could face some volatility over coming days with the prolonged U.S. government shutdown likely to end soon, triggering the release of a backlog of economic data. However, the White House said on Wednesday that jobs and consumer price figures for October may never be released. The yen was steady at 179.35 per euro in the Asian morning, after dipping to an unprecedented 179.47 overnight. It was little changed at 154.69 per dollar, following its decline to the lowest since early February at 155.05 on Wednesday, crossing the psychological 155 mark. The euro traded flat at $1.1594. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday expressed her administration's preference for interest rates to stay low and asked for close coordination with the Bank of Japan. She also has asked BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda to report regularly to the government's Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy. Meanwhile, Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama gave a new verbal warning on yen weakness as it approached 155 per dollar, noting "one-sided and rapid movements in the foreign exchange market." A weak yen could force the BOJ's hand, leading to a hike next month. Traders see a 24% chance of a quarter-point increase to the key rate in December, rising to 46% odds for a hike by January. In Australia, traders lay 14% odds for a quarter-point rate cut in December, with robust economic data this week reducing the likelihood of easier policy in the near term. A top Australian central banker said on Wednesday there was increasing debate about whether the current cash rate of 3.6% is restrictive enough to keep inflation in check, adding that the question is critical for the policy outlook. The Aussie edged down slightly to $0.6537 on Thursday, a day after rising as high as $0.6550, the strongest level since Monday of last week. (Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Richard Chang)

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