FOREX-Euro strikes 4-month low vs dlr as stops spur selling

* Kiwi hurt by inflation numbers, drags Aussie lower

By Satomi Noguchi

TOKYO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The euro fell broadly on Wednesday, hitting a four-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 the December low near $1.4220 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. [ID:nDEP003284] [ID:nLDE60I1C2]

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 low as $1.4180, a lowest since Sept. 1 when the currency resumed its bull run to a November high of $1.5145. After having erased nearly all of those late-year gains, the September low of $1.4177 is seen as the next support or another key level that could increase the euro's downside risk.

The euro was later stabilising around $1.4225, but still down 0.4 percent on the day. 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 0.4 percent to 129.72 yen EURJPY=R.

The dollar index, a gauge of the greenback's performance against six other major currencies, was up 0.5 percent at 77.895 .DXY.

The dollar rose 0.3 percent to 91.35 yen, 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.

NZD, AUD FALL

Earlier in the day, the New Zealand dollar dropped after softer-than-expected inflation data cooled expectations of an interest rate rise anytime soon. [ID:nSGE60H036]

That dragged down the Aussie as the Australian consumer price index (CPI) 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.

Traders said talk that China had asked banks to stop lending for the rest of January also hurt demand for the Aussie and New Zealand dollars, as any sign of tightening in China usually hurts commodity-linked currencies. [ID:nTOE60I0BS]

The kiwi dropped 0.8 percent to $0.7296, while the Aussie fell 0.6 percent to $0.9177.