FOREX-Dollar up, loonie and kiwi in focus before central bank meetings

* Equities rally amid return in global risk appetite lifts dollar

* Loonie, kiwi in focus ahead of Canadian, NZ c.bank meetings

* Markets focus on how dovish the c.banks may sound

By Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The dollar gained against the safe-haven yen on Wednesday, boosted by a surge in European and U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . stocks amid a global recovery in risk appetite that also drove rallies in commodity currencies such as the Australian and Canadian dollars.

The dollar was up 0.2 percent at 120.09 yen, extending gains from an overnight low of 118.885, with a spike in U.S. debt yields on reduced risk aversion helping the greenback.

The Australian dollar edged up to $0.7036, adding to the 1.4 percent surge overnight which whisked it away from a 6-1/2-year low of $0.6892 struck on Monday.

"Equity movements continue to impact the dollar and yen, but they won't be taking centre stage today. Instead, the Canadian and New Zealand dollars, which are likely to move more ahead of their central bank policy decisions, will gather much of the attention," said Masafumi Yamamoto, senior strategist at Monex in Tokyo.

The Bank of Canada is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.5 percent in light of recently upbeat data after already cutting twice this year, although market participants are readying for possibly dovish undertones from the central bank. The decision is due at 1400 GMT.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), on the other hand, is expected to cut interest rates to 2.75 percent on Thursday. The focus is now on the language accompanying the policy decision.

"The forecasts and language will probably imply one further OCR (official cash rate) cut. Westpac remains on the dovish side of consensus in terms of how low the OCR is eventually cut," wrote Sean Callow, a senior currency strategist at Westpac in Sydney.

The Canadian dollar was steady at C$1.3197 against the greenback after gaining 0.8 percent overnight as crude oil, a major export for Canada, surged on the back of a global equities rally. A tumble in crude oil prices had sent the loonie to an 11-year low of $1.3353 last month.

The New Zealand dollar was up 0.6 percent at $0.6380 , after gaining more than 1 percent overnight. The kiwi had slid to 6-year low of $0.6200 late in August.

The euro was little changed at $1.1193, stuck in a narrow $1.1230-$1.1122 range this week. (Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Eric Meijer)