* Euro hits fresh lows vs dollar, yen, Swiss franc
* Concerns over Greece's fiscal position continue
* Yen brushes 6-wk high vs Aussie as risk sentiment suffers
* Dollar index hits 5-mth high
By Charlotte Cooper
TOKYO, Jan 29 (Reuters) - The euro hit a nine-month low on
the yen and a six-month low on the dollar on Friday as concerns
about Greece's fiscal situation intensified, while the Japanese
currency rose broadly as weaker stocks further clouded
sentiment.
After a week of worries over debt of smaller euro zone
countries, White House plans to limit risk-taking at U.S. banks,
credit tightening steps in China and a slide in global stock
markets, investors have cut risk trades funded by the yen and
dollar.
Traders said there was talk of loss-cutting sell orders on
the euro below $1.3890-80 <EUR=>, just below the day's trough at
$1.3912, but that its dip to a fresh low in early Asian action
had cleared out many sell orders against the yen for now.
"It's getting harder to see how much further the euro will
fall against the dollar and the yen," said Hideki Hayashi,
global economist at Mizuho Securities.
"Worries about tighter monetary policy in China are likely
to keep Asian stocks shaky next week, so risk aversion moves are
expected to remain in place," Hayashi said.
A batch of data is due in the euro zone, including inflation
and unemployment, but the main data focus will be U.S.
fourth-quarter gross domestic product at 1330 GMT.
The U.S. economy is expected to have grown at an annualised
4.6 percent in the fourth quarter, double the rate in the third
quarter when the economy resumed expansion after four
consecutive quarters of decline.
The dollar index <=USD><.DXY>, a measure of its performance
against six other major currencies, touched a five-month high at
79.156. It reached above its 100-week moving average of 78.94,
and a weekly close above there will be a bullish signal.
The euro fell 0.3 percent from late U.S. trade to $1.3932
<EUR=>, recovering slightly from an early drop to $1.3912 on
trading platform EBS, its weakest point since mid-July, as
investors worried Greece may not be able to service its debt.
It is on track for a loss of about 2.5 percent this month
although not as steep as December, when it fell 4.5 percent.
It also tumbled against the Swiss franc, dropping to 1.4645
francs <EURCHF=R>, its lowest since last March, the month the
Swiss National Bank intervened to counter franc strength.
Traders said there was talk of a barrier targeted down at
1.4650 francs, but the market is wary of the possibility of
franc selling by the Swiss central bank and it recovered to
1.4668 francs later. The central bank was reported as saying
last week it would prevent any excessive rise in the franc.
[]
GREEK FOCUS
Germany and France denied a report suggesting an imminent
European Union bailout for Greece, while Athens said it had not
requested help and was the victim of speculators intent on
attacking it as the euro zone's "weak link". []
"Some who are very bearish about the euro have even started
to worry that the single currency system might be falling
apart," said a senior currency trader at a Japanese brokerage.
The premium that investors demand to hold Greek government
bonds rather than benchmark German Bunds rose to its highest
since the euro was launched more than a decade ago and the cost
of insuring Greece's sovereign debt against default also hit a
record high. []
The euro fell 0.3 percent to 125.26 yen <EURJPY=R>, pulling
back up from a nine-month low of 124.81 yen hit on EBS.
The next chart focus is its April trough of 124.38 yen,
traders say, although its 14-day relative strength index has
dropped to 26, signalling selling on the pair is now quite
stretched. A reading of 30 or below signals a pair is oversold
and above 70 that it is overbought.
The dollar also slipped initially but later recovered to
stand flat on the day at 89.92 yen <JPY=>, above a six-week low
set on Wednesday at 89.14 yen.
A fall on Wall Street also undermined investors' willingness
to hold risk positions, with many share markets in Asia also
down more than 1 percent. []
The yen's gains were trimmed as dollar buying emerged
related to Japanese investment trusts, known as toushin, a
currency trader at a Japanese brokerage said.
The higher-yielding Australian and New Zealand dollars both
slipped in early trade against the low-yielding U.S. dollar and
the yen.
One trader reported Australian dollar selling by Japanese
players as well as leveraged funds. The Aussie fell to its
lowest in six weeks below 79.70 yen <AUDJPY=R> before recovering
some ground to 80.20 yen.
Both the Australian and New Zealand dollars briefly hit
their lowest in a month against the dollar.
(Editing by Joseph Radford)
(Additional reporting by Satomi Noguchi and Rika Otsuka;
Editing by Michael Watson)
