By Anirban Nag

LONDON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The dollar rebounded against theyen and the Swiss franc on Friday after a rise in U.S. bondyields, although the bounce lacked conviction as worries about aU.S. recovery remained strong.

Chinese trade data showed higher-than-expected imports forAugust, pushing currencies such as the Australian dollar higheragainst the low-yielding yen, which is often used to fundinvestments into higher-yielding currencies.

The dollar was off this week's 15-year low against the yen,helped by a rise in U.S. Treasury yields on Thursday on U.S.jobs data and a widening in the U.S.-Japan yield spread.

"Rising U.S. yields have been driving the dollar against theyen," said Gareth Berry, currency strategist at UBS.

U.S. initial claims for jobless benefits fell to theirlowest in two months. Payrolls data last week showed fewer joblosses than expected in the world's largest economy.

Berry said it was too early to judge whether the U.S.economy was headed for a double-dip. "We need a succession ofgood data out of the U.S. for the markets to have a strongerconviction about the dollar," he said.

Traders said comments from Bank of Japan Governor MasaakiShirakawa that Japan needs to raise the foreign exchange issuesat international meetings also pushed the yen lower.

The dollar rose 0.4 percent to 84.12 yen. It briefly toucheda high of 84.28 yen. The next target will be its high of 85.23yen hit after the U.S. payrolls data last Friday.

The dollar hit a 15-year low of 83.34 yen this week,intensifying speculation that Japanese authorities might step into curb yen gains if the move accelerates towards 80 yen.Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan reiterated on Friday thatauthorities would take decisive steps on the yen if needed.

LEADERSHIP RACE TO SWAY YEN

Attention is also turning to a ruling party leadership raceon Sept. 14 in which Kan faces a challenge from powerbrokerIchiro Ozawa.

A Reuters poll showed a win by Ozawa in the vote, whichwould also decide who is prime minister, would likely give ashort-term boost to stocks but weaken Japanese government bondsand the yen.

Ozawa has said Japan should intervene to weaken the yen, andwhile some analysts say intervention would be difficult withoutsupport from Washington, others say Tokyo under Ozawa would bemore likely to take action if the yen strengthens.

"So the chances of intervention will rise as compared to theperiod under Kan," said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief FX strategistJapan at Barclays Capital in Tokyo.

The dollar was lower against a basket of currencies, havingfailed to hold above the index's 55-day moving average at 82.80.

It rose against the Swiss franc, jumping 0.6 percent to1.0210 francs, well above this week's nine-month low of 1.0060francs. Traders said Dubai World's announcement of formalagreement to restructure liabilities was helping risk demand andprompting unwinding of positions in the safe-haven Swissie.

The euro was up 0.2 percent at $1.2718, with supportexpected at its 100-day moving average at $1.2657. It was up 0.5percent against the yen at 106.95 yen.

The Australian dollar pushed higher against the greenbackstaying close to a four-month high of $0.9278 struck onThursday, with Chinese import data boding well for domesticdemand and trading partners including Australia.

(Additional reporting by Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo)