FOREX-Dollar rebound loses steam with trade in focus

SINGAPORE, April 24 (Reuters) - The dollar took a breather on Thursday, following a sharp bounce after President Donald Trump backed away from threats to fire Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and his administration opened the door to a softer stance on China tariffs.

After dipping below 140 yen on Tuesday, the dollar has rebounded off major chart support and was last at 143.25 yen JPY=EBS on Thursday.

It caught an extra boost when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. did not have a specific currency target in mind, ahead of talks with his Japanese counterpart. Bessent has also said the current de-facto embargo on U.S.-China trade was unsustainable, while cautioning that the U.S. would not move first in lowering its levies of more than 100% on Chinese goods.

The dollar has recovered from a three-and-a-half-year low of $1.1572 per euro, but encountered a little selling in the Asia morning to steady around $1.1338.

It is clear, by now, that no other currency is as sensitive to trade headlines as the dollar, said ING currency strategist Francesco Pesole in a note to clients.

"We still think the balance of risks remains skewed to the downside for USD in the near term, but we don't expect a repetition of the one-way traffic in dollar selling we have witnessed of late," he said.

"That said, EUR/USD remains almost entirely a function of USD moves. And another leg higher above $1.15 remains possible should fears about the Fed's independence take centre stage again."

The Australian and New Zealand dollars were similarly off recent peaks - although not all that much.

The Aussie AUD=D3, after briefly breaching $0.64 this week, was at $0.6361 and Commonwealth Bank strategist Joe Capurso said it could test resistance around its 50-day moving average at $0.6286 as worries about global growth persist.

The New Zealand dollar NZD=D3 held on at $0.5949.

Sterling GBP=D3 and the Swiss franc CHF=EBS each steadied after a sharp retreat, leaving sterling at $1.3263 and the Swissy at 0.8290 per dollar.

China's yuan CNH=D3 was steady around 7.29 per dollar in early trade.