FOREX-Bruised dollar languishes near three-year lows on tariff anxiety

• Dollar still weak as investors grapple with tariff headlines
• Trump to announce tariff rate on imported semiconductors over the next week
• Euro holds near three-year high; yen and British pound gain

SINGAPORE, April 14 (Reuters) - The dollar drifted lower on Monday, while the Japanese yen and the euro progressed higher as investor confidence in the world's reserve currency remained in question following a stream of tariff-related pronouncements from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Investors braced for another volatile week as Trump's imposition and then abrupt postponement of tariffs on goods imported to the U.S. continued to sow confusion.

Against a basket of currencies, the U.S. dollar =USD languished at 99.4, near Friday's three-year low.

"Markets right now are trading the uncertainty, and that has not been helped over the weekend by the contradictory stories coming out of the U.S. administration," said Nick Rees, head of macro research at Monex Europe.

"That really skews risks for the time being towards further dollar weakness as markets try to avoid some of this uncertainty by hiding basically anywhere that isn't in the U.S."

The euro EUR=EBS climbed 0.3% against the dollar to $1.1395, hovering close to its three-year high hit on Friday as investors flocked to the common currency following a crisis of confidence in the dollar.

Growing nervousness among investors over owning U.S. assets has caused some to dump those positions and move money into other markets including Europe, boosting the euro.

Against the Swiss franc CHF=EBS, the dollar see-sawed between gains and losses and was last up 0.36% at 0.8192 francs at 1130 GMT.

Sterling GBP=D3 rose 0.5% to $1.3196, while the New Zealand dollar NZD=D3 rose to a four-month high of $0.58915. GBP/

"This is the first sign of a de-escalation but there is also room for doubt about how long lasting this could be," Paul Mackel, Global Head of FX Research at HSBC said in a note to clients.

Trump on Sunday said he would announce the tariff rate on imported semiconductors over the next week, adding that there would be flexibility towards some companies in the sector.

The White House on Friday granted an exclusion from steep tariffs for smartphones, computers and certain other electronics imported largely from China. Trump later said the move would be short-lived.

Against the yen, the dollar JPY=EBS eased 0.2% to 143.19, staying close to six-month lows.

Japan is gearing up for trade negotiations with the United States that will likely touch on the thorny topic of currency policy, with some officials privately bracing for Washington to call on Tokyo to prop up the yen.

Japanese Economy Minister Ryosei Akazawa said on Monday that foreign exchange issues would be dealt with between Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

"Markets jumped the gun on pricing in further yen strength on confirmation that Bessent and Kato will discuss FX," said Christopher Wong, a currency strategist at OCBC.

The Australian dollar AUD=D3 was up 0.5% at $0.63245, extending its more than 4% gain from last week.

A steep sell-off in the U.S. Treasury market last week, owing in part to a rapid unwinding of so-called basis trades by hedge funds, was a huge drag on the dollar.

There was scant sign of any recovery in bonds on Monday with 10-year yields at 4.438% US10YT=RR, starting the week roughly steady after the largest weekly rise in borrowing costs in decades. US/

The onshore yuan CNY=CFXS weakened to 7.3101 per dollar, while its offshore counterpart CNH=D3 fell to 7.3123 per dollar.

The offshore yuan struck a record low last week while the onshore unit sank to its lowest since 2007 as the trade war between the United States and China intensified.

Data on Monday showed China's exports rose sharply in March after factories rushed out shipments before the latest U.S. tariffs took effect.