* US autos woes, Spanish bank rescue slam risk appetite
* Dollar, yen up broadly, technically shaky euro slides
* Dollar index up 0.6 pct <.DXY>; dollar down 1.9 pct vs yen
* Heavy event risk this week as G20, ECB, payrolls loom
(Adds quotes, updates prices)
By Tamawa Desai
LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - The dollar and yen rallied on
Monday as renewed trouble in the U.S. auto sector dented
investors' risk appetite, while Spain's first bank bailout since
the start of the financial crisis compounded the euro's losses.
With risk appetite rapidly receding, the dollar and yen also
posted sharp gains against so-called high yielders such as the
Australian and New Zealand dollars.
The euro also remained under pressure ahead of the European
Central Bank's policy meeting and a G20 summit in London, both
taking place on Thursday.
"Risk aversion is the main play," said Geoffrey Yu, currency
strategist at UBS. "But it should not distract from the key
events this week -- the ECB and G20 -- where risks are biased
against the euro," he said.
By 1201 GMT, the euro was down 0.9 percent on the day at
$1.3177 <EUR=>, having broken through long-term support at the
200-week moving average last Friday around $1.3380.
The single currency was down 2.1 percent against the yen at
127.20 yen. It briefly fell more than 4 yen from a session high
to hit a low of 126.44 yen <EURJPY=R>.
The dollar index, a measure of the dollar's value against
six major currencies, was up 0.6 percent on the day at 85.68
<.DXY>.
The Australian dollar was down 1.9 percent at $0.6801 <AUD=>
while the New Zealand dollar fell 1.4 percent at $0.5617 <NZD=>.
The dollar was down 1.9 percent against the Japanese
currency at 96.05 yen <JPY=>.
The Obama administration rejected restructuring plans for
General Motors <GM.N> and Chrysler, and the Spanish government
said the Bank of Spain will bail out regional savings bank Caja
Castilla la Mancha, renewing worries about financials.
The White House said it would only fund GM for the next 60
days, while it develops a more convincing restructuring plan,
with GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner forced out.
This sent global equities and government bond yields
hurtling lower as investors cut risk exposure wherever they
could.
European shares were down 2.4 percent in midday trade
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ECB, G20 IN SPOTLINGHT
Despite the improvement in risk appetite over the last few
weeks, "there were still a few banana skins out there," said
Daragh Maher, deputy head of global FX strategy at Calyon.
"So you're back to the conventional situation of rising risk
aversion, and the dollar and yen being bid," while the Spanish
bank bailout and expectations of quantitative easing measures
from the ECB later this week are weighing on the euro, he said.
Data on Monday showed euro zone economic sentiment fell to
new record lows in March. Economic sentiment fell to 64.6 from
65.3, and also below market forecasts of 65.5.
Separately, Spain posted negative inflation, a first among
euro zone countries in the current economic downturn, raising
chances of lower-than-expected consumer price growth in the euro
zone.
Some analysts say the euro's next technical target on the
downside could be $1.31, the 50 percent Fibonacci retracement
level of the euro's March rally from $1.2455 to $1.3737.
The ECB holds a rate review on Thursday. As well as
expectations that it will cut its main policy rate by half a
percentage point to a new record low of 1 percent, the market is
keen to see how far it might follow other central banks such as
the Fed in taking unconventional steps to shore up the economy.
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet attends a European
Parliament committee hearing at 1430 GMT on Monday and the
market will be listening for clues on its next steps. []
(Additional reporting by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Victoria
Main)
