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SINGAPORE, Apr 25 (Reuters) The U.S. dollar held near 3-month lows against the yen on Tuesday, and other regional Asian currencies set multi-year highs, weighing down Asian share markets.

Japanese stocks were slightly higher as the firming yen hit exporters and as investors sought comfort in firms with domestic focus such as Mitsubishi Estate , the country's second-biggest real estate company.

''The currency issue is hanging over exporters, so domestic plays are in favour, although buying doesn't look strong enough to make a market turn-around,'' said Tatsuyuki Kawasaki, director at Kaneyama Securities' equities trading division.

The Nikkei share index <.n225> ended the morning session up 0.23 percent, with shares of most auto makers lower. Nissan Motor Co.

, Japan's second-biggest auto maker, which is due to release its full year results after the market closes, was down 0.88 percent.

Outside of Japan, the MSCI ex-Japan index <.msciajp> fell 0.3 percent.

The U.S. currency steadied near the 3-month low of 114.24 hit on Monday, after the Group of Seven economic powers at the weekend called on China and other emerging economies to let their currencies strengthen to alleviate global trade imbalances.

These woes come amid expectations the Federal Reserve has nearly ended its two-year run of raising interest rates, a key dollar support since 2004, with traders saying the currency's latest weakness could signal the start of a selling trend.

''Given that the dollar/yen has fallen this far, a rebound to 115 yen seems difficult at this point,'' said Shigeru Komatsu, forex manager at Sumitomo Trust and Banking.

As of 0301 GMT, the dollar traded around 114.50 yen .

TRICHET'S WARNING European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet followed up the weekend's G7 communique by emphasising that not only China but all emerging Asian economies had to do their part to help correct global imbalances.

''We must have an increasing dynamism of domestic demand and the orderly and appropriate changes in the exchange rate,'' he said in New York on Monday.

The euro was at around $1.2375 , not far from a seven-month high of $1.2415 hit on Monday and at 141.65 yen , easing further from a record high of 145.51 yen hit last week.

A weaker dollar also strengthened Asian currencies, with the South Korean won hitting a fresh eight-and-a-half-year high.

The Singapore dollar and the Indonesian rupiah also firmed.

U.S. crude oil futures slid to below $73 on Tuesday, extending losses from record highs, as OPEC promised to keep pumping at near full capacity.

U.S. crude for June delivery was trading 10 cents lower at $73.23 a barrel in electronic trading. On Monday, it fell $1.84, distancing itself from the $75.35 record high struck on Friday.

Spot gold was trading near $622.75/623.50 an ounce early on Tuesday after a sharp fall in New York and on a weaker dollar.

ECONOMIC DATA BOOSTS KOREAN STOCKS South Korean shares were higher on upbeat data that showed the economy had grown faster than expected in the first quarter.

Speculation about a takeover sent shares in Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. surging after a firm controlled by John Fredriksen, Norway's richest man, increased its stake to become the shipping company's largest shareholder.

Exporters, however, were hurt due to worries over a surging won, and chip makers were lower after Hynix Semiconductor Inc.

lost a patent case filed by U.S. computer technology and research firm Rambus Inc. .

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) <.ks11> rose 0.2 percent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index <.hsi>, Singapore and Taiwan's index <.twii> all edged down between 0.2 and 0.4 percent.

Australian markets were closed for the ANZAC day public holiday and will resume trading on Wednesday.

REUTERS CS BD0921