* Yen touches multi-year lows vs dollar and euro * Nikkei index soars to highest since August 2008 * World stocks stage recovery from Friday's selloff FREE GUIDES AND REPORTS FROM DIANOMIADVERTISEMENT Top 10 Retirement Tips Top 10 Retirement Tips - Special 16 page guide Download Free Guide NEW YORK, April 8 (Reuters) - The yen slumped against the dollar and the euro on Monday as the Bank of Japan began its boldest economic boost yet while U.S. shares stalled, failing to follow gains elsewhere in the world. The dollar rallied to 99 yen, its highest since May 2009, and the euro touched a three-year peak against the Japanese currency after the BoJ conducted its first bond purchases since announcing the new monetary easing steps last week. "Barring any sudden spike in risk aversion (dollar/yen) is likely to roll through that (100) level as momentum remains relentless for the time being," said Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX Strategy at BK Asset Management in New York. The dollar settled around 98.51 yen for a gain of 0.7 percent from Friday's New York close, and the euro added 1.1 percent to trade at about 128.27 yen. U.S. stocks opened slightly lower, following the S&P 500's largest weekly decline this year, with defensive sectors weighing the most on the benchmark index. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 22.65 points or 0.16 percent, to 14,542.6, the S&P 500 lost 0.87 point or 0.06 percent, to 1,552.41 and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.96 points or 0.12 percent, to 3,207.82. Telecommunications, healthcare and utilities were the worst performing sectors on the S&P. Japan's Nikkei stock average jumped as much as 3.1 percent on Monday to its highest since August 2008. MSCI's world equity index rose 0.05 percent to around 355 after registering its worst week of the year on Friday with a five-day loss of 1.26 percent.

Source