SINGAPORE, July 18 Reuters Japan39;s yen scaled a sixweek high on Thursday, spurring speculation of an official push, while the dollar nursed broad losses as markets prepared for U.S. rate cuts in a few months and waited on a central bank meeting in Europe later in the day.

The euro hovered at 1.094, close to Wednesday39;s fourmonth peak ahead of a European Central Bank meeting where a hold on rates is expected but further cuts will likely be flagged.

The Australian dollar caught a small boost from some mixed jobs data and traded at 0.6738 and sterling was steady at 1.3001, just below the oneyear top it had made a day earlier.

The yen extended a sharp rally to touch 155.37 per dollar in the otherwise quiet early hours of the Asia session on Thursday, before steadying around 156.35, five yen below where it was a week ago.

Bank of Japan money market data suggested authorities may have bought nearly 6 trillion yen 38.37 billion last week, and traders said this week39;s moves bore the hallmarks of further intervention, or at least of markets easily spooked by that prospect.

Many traders and Japanese investors, after intervention, were looking to reload on their trades, said National Australia Bank strategist Rodrigo Catril in Sydney.

The big move on Wednesday would have caught them offside and triggered a little bit of a reassessment if not an unwinding of those positions.

Net yen shorts stood near a 17year high last week.

Interest rate markets are pricing more than…