FOREX-Euro drops to 2-month low vs dollar; focus on $1.30

                                
  
                                
 * Euro falls below 200-day moving average around $1.3130
                                
 * Euro/dlr volatility up as market braces for more losses
                                
 * Lukewarm response to Italian debt auction
  (Updates prices, adds comment)
                                
 By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
                                
 NEW YORK, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The euro slumped broadly,
falling to two month lows against the dollar and Swiss franc on
Monday as a rescue package for Ireland failed to soothe worries
other debt-stricken euro zone members may also seek bailouts.
                                
 Analysts expect further losses in the euro given          
 uncertainty surrounding the fiscal outlook of the region's
peripheral countries. The next key target is $1.30 after the
euro fell below the 200-day moving average around $1.3130.
                                
 The euro was down 6.3 percent on the month and on pace for
its worst monthly performance since May when Greece received a
110 billion euro ($143.9 bln) bailout to avoid a debt default.
                                
 "Investors are concerned that European policymakers are
putting out brush-fires rather than solving the issue at hand,"
said Paresh Upadhyaya, head of Americas G10 FX Strategy at Bank
of America Merrill Lynch in New York.
                                
 "Investors are rightly concerned about contagion. This
bailout may resolve Ireland's problems but it doesn't address
that of Portugal and Spain."
                                
 European Union finance ministers over the weekend endorsed
an 85 billion euro rescue package for Dublin and approved
outlines of a permanent crisis-resolution system that could
make private bondholders share the burden of restructuring
sovereign debt after 2013. [ID:nLDE6AR0MC]
                                
 Sentiment remained fragile, however, with a sale of Italian
bonds meeting lukewarm demand and highlighting investors'
unease about euro-zone debt. [ID:nTAR001551]
                                
 Many analysts say markets are still likely to turn to
Portugal and Spain, seen as the euro zone's next weakest links.
[ID:nWEA2085]
                                
 The euro fell to $1.3064 <EUR=EBS>, its lowest since
September 21 was last at $1.3102, down 1.1 percent on the day.
Investors took out option barriers at $1.31 and are eyeing
similar barriers at $1.3050.
                                
 BREAK OF 200-DAY MOVING AVERAGE SIGNIFICANT
                                
 Traders said the euro's break below the 200-day moving
average was significant as this suggested a further slide. The
last two occasions that the euro fell below its 200-day moving
average, the currency fell around 18 percent and 16 percent
respectively to its lows in November 2008 and June 2010,
according to Reuters data.
                                
 Euro/dollar implied volatilities extended a recent rise,
reflecting nervousness about the single currency. One-month
volatilities <EUR1MO=> spiked to 15.19 percent, the highest
since at least June, from 13.85 on Friday.
                                
 The one-month 25-delta risk reversals, a gauge of currency
sentiment, traded as low as -2.775 vols <EUR1MRR=GFI> for euro
puts versus a close of -2.3 on Friday.
                                
 The cost of insuring Portuguese and Spanish debt against
default rose to a record high on Monday. [ID:nLDE6AS114]
                                
 Many traders said the European Financial Stability
Facility, a joint EU-International Monetary Fund reserve
created in May, may not have enough funds to support Spain if
it decides to seek assistance. [ID:nLDE6AR09R]
                                
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 Euro zone crisis timeline:   http://link.reuters.com/nyx95q
 Multimedia coverage:            http://r.reuters.com/hus75h
 Graphic on sovereign debt woes: http://r.reuters.com/zem66q
                                
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
                                
 Ireland said the emergency loans would run for an average
of 7.5 years, with an interest rate of 6 percent.
                                
 Another source of uncertainty is a lack of details on a
Franco-German proposal to make private bondholders share the
burden of losses on sovereign debt restructuring.
                                
 "That suggests the broader fiscal backdrop in the euro zone
could remain troubled for longer, particularly if other, larger
countries also require bailout programs, and as well raises
troubling questions about moral hazard," wrote Bob Lynch,
currency strategist at HSBC in New York.
                                
 Analysts said the market would be watching whether European
Central Bank policymakers, meeting on Thursday, would remove
some of the emergency measures put in place earlier this year.
                                
The euro's losses against the dollar pushed it to a
two-month trough against the Swiss franc at 1.3103 <EURCHF=>.
                                
 The dollar also hit a two-month high against the yen at
84.41 yen <JPY=> and was last at 84.33, up 0.3 percent.
  (Editing by Andrew Hay)