RPT-GLOBAL MARKETS-Irish debt woes weigh on euro, stocks

                                
 * Euro hits six-week lows; Ireland woes weigh
                                
 * Nikkei reverses into losses after hitting five-month
peaks
                                
 * Firm U.S. dollar drags on commodities
                                
 By Koh Gui Qing
                                
 SYDNEY, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The euro briefly fell to its
lowest level in six weeks against the dollar on Tuesday and
stocks in Asia slid on worries that Ireland will not be able to
service its debt, prompting investors to take profits after a
strong autumn rally.
                                
 The euro was soft at $1.3572 <EUR=>, down 0.1 percent from
New York, after falling as far as $1.3560 on trading platform
EBS.
                                
 Euro zone finance ministers will meet later on Tuesday to
try to find a way to end Ireland's debt crisis, with Dublin
resisting pressure to seek a state bailout by signalling that
only its banks may need help. [ID:nLDE6AE2AI]
                                
 Hints from the Irish government that its banks, not the
state, could need help with funding have done little to shore
up the common currency, while borrowing costs have risen for
other fiscally strapped euro zone countries such as Spain and
Portugal.
                                
 Japan's Nikkei <.N225> climbed to five-month highs as a
rising U.S. dollar curbed the yen's strength, but it quickly
ran into profit-taking to mirror losses in other Asian bourses.
                                
 In early Asian trade, the Nikkei <.N225> was flat at
9,821.11 points after climbing as far as 9,908.30, a level last
seen on June 24.
                                
 "Some investors likely bought stocks on corrective moves in
the yen's strength, but that's not enough to keep pushing the
market higher," said Kazutaka Oshima, president of Rakuten
Investment Management.
                                
 "Other stocks markets are also pausing and, at this point,
investors find it hard to lift the Nikkei beyond 10,000 just
because Japanese stocks have been lagging behind."
                                
 Other Asian stock markets also fell across the board. The
MSCI Asian stock index outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> dipped 0.1
percent after a 16 percent climb since early September.
                                
 Shares in Seoul <.KS11> shed 0.9 percent after the Bank of
Korea took aim at inflation and lifted interest rates by 25
basis points to 2.5 percent, as expected. [ID:nTOE6AE04I]
                                
 The dollar was a touch firmer against the yen at 83.18
<JPY=>, and a good way from a 15-year low of 80.21 struck
earlier this month.
                                
 The impact of a rebounding U.S. dollar, driven higher in
part by worries about European debt and by climbing Treasury
yields, was salient across markets, depressing prices of most
commodities.
                                
 Oil <CLc1> eased 0.5 percent to pull further away from a
25-month high hit last week [O/R], while spot gold <XAU=> edged
down to $1,358.30 an ounce.
                                
 U.S. Treasury yields have been creeping higher since the
Federal Reserve promised on Nov. 3 it would buy more U.S.
government bonds to stir the languid U.S. economy.
                                
 The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield <US10YT=RR> has spiked
36 basis points in just three trading days and are climbing
towards four-month highs of 3 percent.
                                
 Analysts said the sell-off in U.S. Treasuries was driven in
part by profit-taking and uncertainty over whether the Fed
would ultimately buy as many bonds as it had promised.
                                
 Treasury prices continued to struggle in early Asian trade,
with two- and 10-year T-note futures <0#TU:> <0#TY:> mostly
lower.
 (Editing by Kim Coghill)