SINGAPORE, Jan 19 Reuters The dollar rose broadly on Thursday as growth concerns about the U.S. economy drove demand for the safehaven greenback, while the yen rebounded as speculators doubled down on bets that the Bank of Japan would shift away from its yield curve control policy.

Weak U.S. data released on Wednesday showed that retail sales fell by the most in a year in December and manufacturing output recorded its biggest drop in nearly two years, stoking fears that the world39;s largest economy is headed for a recession.

Those weak data really reinforced market concerns about an imminent U.S. recession … which really supported the dollar, and I think that will become a growing narrative in the coming months, said Carol Kong, a currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.

Sterling fell 0.15 to 1.2330, pulling further away from the previous session39;s onemonth high of 1.2435, while the euro steadied at 1.0795, but was similarly some distance from Wednesday39;s ninemonth high of 1.08875.

The fresh wave of risk aversion compounded by news of job cuts by tech giants Microsoft and Amazon  also kept the dollar in bid.

The effects of the FOMC tightening will just become more and more visible, Kong said.

The Aussie slumped 0.56 to 0.6902, further pressured by a surprise dip in Australia employment in December.

The kiwi lost 0.47 to stand at 0.6415.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday made a shock announcement that she would step…