FOREX-Yen rises to 6-wk high vs dollar; high-yielders fall

* Lower U.S. Q3 GDP lifts yen vs dollar

* Firmer Ifo helps euro reverse earlier losses

* U.S. consumer confidence higher than expected, (Recasts, updates prices, adds comment, U.S. data)

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

NEW YORK, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The yen rose to six-week highs against the dollar on Tuesday, while the greenback climbed versus higher-yielding currencies after economic growth and consumer confidence data suggested a U.S. recovery could be slower and less robust than previously thought.

The reports rekindled the safe-haven allure of both the dollar and yen and reduced appetite for riskier assets such as stocks and commodity currencies with higher yields such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars.

Data on Tuesday indicated that the U.S. economy in the third quarter grew at a slower pace than previously thought, while a consumer confidence report still pointed to weak labor market sentiment.

"The (consumer confidence) breakdown is less encouraging with the main components that broadly track PCE (in coincident fashion) generally weak," said Alan Ruskin, chief currency strategist at RBS Global Banking and Markets in Stamford, Connecticut.

"That includes the present situation numbers, and the labor market indicators that show jobs hard to get remaining at extraordinary high levels...This has...triggered profit-taking on short dollar exposure."

For U.S. consumer confidence report, see [ID:nN24300840].

The dollar fell to session lows against the yen at 88.36 JPY= , the lowest since early October, according to Reuters data. By mid-morning, the dollar was last at 88.44, down 0.6 percent on the day.

The euro, meanwhile, was slightly down at $1.4964 EUR=, in choppy trading. Earlier it had gained versus the greenback as firmer-than-expected German sentiment survey offset concerns about the country's banking sector.

The euro, which has become one of the proxies for risk appetite, also had slipped earlier after data showed the U.S. economy grew 2.8 percent, lower than the government's first estimate of a 3.5 percent growth rate a month ago. The figure was also slightly lower than market forecasts. For GDP data, click on [ID:nN23258482].

"This number is slightly negative for risk appetite because of the downgrade in the personal consumption number. But overall, this is an old number and it should have limited impact going forward," said Jacob Oubina, senior currency strategist at Forex.com in Bedminster, New Jersey.

In line with the market's diminished market appetite, the Australian dollar fell 0.6 percent to US$0.9180 AUD=, while the New Zealand dollar slid more than 1 percent to US$0.7252 NZD=.

(Editing by Diane Craft)) ((gertrude.chavez@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6322; Reuters Messaging: gertrude.chavez.reuters.com@reuters.net))