* Euro triggers stops under $1.4250, hits 5-mth low vs GBP
* Euro vulnerable on concern over Greece, soft data
* Kiwi hurt by inflation numbers, drags Aussie lower
* China lending curb weighs on risk trades
By Satomi Noguchi
TOKYO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The euro fell broadly on
Wednesday, hitting a five-month low against the dollar on concern
about Greece's fiscal problems and breaking below a key chart
level that could signal a bearish trend for the currency.
The euro's slide below its 200-day moving average of around
$1.4296 initially gave investors a technical sign to sell the
currency, and its break below $1.4250 and then lows of December
and September later triggered loss-cutting orders and sparked
broad euro-selling, traders said.
The euro dropped to a five-month trough versus sterling.
"We still need to see whether the euro's fall will be
temporary or something of a big trend. But one thing that's clear
for now is that people are in the mood to get out of risky bets,
including on the Aussie," said a senior trader for a Japanese
securities firm.
The euro was hurt in the previous session by a
bigger-than-expected decline in German investor sentiment, which
added to woes inflicted by flagging market confidence in Greek
public finances. [] []
Analysts say concerns about Greece and other European union
members' ability to deal with swelling budget deficits combined
with lacklustre growth will weigh on the euro.
The euro fell as far as $1.4166, its weakest since
mid-August, after taking out its September low of $1.4177 from
which it resumed its bull run to a November high of $1.5145.
It later recovered to $1.4190 <EUR=> but was still down 0.7
percent on the day.
"The move has been brewing for a few days," said Gerrard
Katz, regional head of FX trading at Standard Chartered in Hong
Kong.
"Previously there has been good demand when the euro has
dipped down to these kind of levels. But this time it feels
heavy," he said.
Against sterling, the euro slid as low as 86.98 pence, the
lowest since late August, before trading at 87.11 pence
<EURGBP=D4>, down 0.2 percent.
The euro fell 0.6 percent to 129.48 yen <EURJPY=R>.
The dollar index, a gauge of the greenback's performance
against six other major currencies, was up 0.6 percent at 77.924
<.DXY>.
The dollar held firm at 91.18 yen <JPY=>, recovering from a
four-week low of 90.31 yen hit in the previous session on trading
platform EBS. It managed to hold above the key 90.05/35 support
zone, helped partly by higher yields on U.S. Treasuries.
CHINA TIGHTENS LENDING, AUD AND NZD LOSSES DEEPEN
Official media and bank sources said Chinese banking
authorities had instructed major banks to curb their lending over
the rest of this month, which traders said hurt demand for the
Aussie and New Zealand dollars.
Any sign China is reining in lending and excessive liquidity
usually hurts commodity-linked currencies. Shares in Shanghai
fell 2.5 percent. []
"The dollar is recovering, except against the yen, because of
the tightening by China. This is weighing on the risk
currencies," said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief FX strategist Japan at
Barclays Capital in Tokyo.
Earlier in the day, the New Zealand dollar <NZD=D4> dropped
after softer-than-expected inflation data cooled expectations of
an interest rate rise anytime soon. []
That dragged down the Aussie as the Australian consumer price
index figures have a habit of echoing surprises in the Kiwi
numbers.
That means there is a risk that next week's Aussie CPI report
could be softer than expected.
The kiwi dropped 1.2 percent to $0.7273 <NZD=D4>, while the
Aussie fell 0.9 percent to $0.9155 <AUD=D4>. Both currencies also
lost about 1 percent against the yen.
(Additional reporting by Anirban Nag in Sydney and Charlotte
Cooper in Tokyo)
