NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The dollar soared to a nearly six-week high against the yen Monday as better-than-expected Japanese growth figures cooled demand for the safe-harbor yen. The dollar also strengthened against the euro, with the common currency again succumbing to worry that Ireland might soon request a European Union lifeline--something the financially stressed country has denied. A revised budget deficit figure for Greece--another member of the euro-zone periphery that has kept the region's debt crisis simmering--weighed on the euro. Greece's budget deficit in 2009 reached a revised 15.4% of gross domestic product, almost two percentage points more than previously forecast. "The euro continues to wobble over uncertainty about periphery's fiscal woes," said Brown Brothers Harriman analysts. Early Monday morning, the euro was at $1.3645 from $1.3693 late Friday, according to EBS via CQG. The dollar was at Y82.93 from Y82.43 after ticking as high as 83.28. The euro was at Y113.20 from Y112.86. The U.K. pound was at $1.6096 from $1.6136. The dollar was at CHF0.9825 from CHF0.9803. The ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, was at 78.322 from 78.103. The Irish government has come under pressure from some euro-zone national governments to seek a bailout, but Ireland hasn't requested financial aid from the European Union, the European Commission said Monday, adding that the country's funding needs are covered until next summer. "The risks that face Europe are serious and could create near-term downward euro pressure," said Camilla Sutton, currency strategist at Scotia Capital in Toronto. After dealing earlier in the year with a boiling point in the debt crisis, and then in response creating a backstop for its most stressed members, the E.U. is better prepared this time around to handle any more serious problems that emerge from the current bout of worry, Sutton said, meaning the euro's weakness is likely to be temporary. For now, though, investors have left the euro behind, trading in similar patterns as they did at the height of the debt crisis--when the dollar gained at the expense of stressed Greece, according to a UBS analysis of recent trading. "Last week our clients switched tactics, leaving behind the Fed's quantitative easing theme," which had seen investors flee the dollar based on the Fed program's likely knock-on effects on the dollar, "and focusing instead on the sovereign risk crisis within the euro zone," said UBS strategists in a note to clients. For now, the dollar also gained against the yen after Japan reported its economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter. The better-than-expected figures dented demand for the safe-harbor yen, to which investors oftentimes turn when the global picture darkens. Better-than-expected U.S. retail-sales figures, which showed their best month in October since March, helped the dollar tick to its highest level since Oct. 5, at 83.28 yen. The dollar could further its gains against the yen, analysts said, if U.S. data continue to show positive signs, leading some investors to believe the Federal Reserve could temper its recent bond-buying program, which has weakened the dollar. Another gauge of the U.S. economy, though, the New York Fed's Empire State survey, showed New York-area manufacturing activity deteriorated in November, keeping the dollar's gains in check. Canada Morning The Canadian dollar is modestly higher against the U.S. dollar early Monday, gaining strength along with a firming in crude-oil prices. The U.S. dollar was 0.25% lower early Monday, at C$1.0097, according to CQG. The Canadian dollar likely will continue to take its cues from the broader move in the U.S. currency on Monday, Sutton said, leaving European sovereign-debt risk as a key driver. The Canadian dollar continues to flirt with parity, but of late has failed to sustain a level that is higher than the U.S. dollar. On Sunday, BHP Billiton withdrew its $38.6 billion offer for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, saying it couldn't satisfy conditions that Canada wanted affixed to the proposed acquisition. The news had no significant impact on the currency. -By Bradley Davis, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2654; bradley.davis@dowjones.com

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