FOREX-Euro rattled by bank scare, yen eyes new highs

* Bank scare sends euro to record lows on Swiss franc, A$

* Yen up broadly, makes fresh 15-year high on US$

SYDNEY, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The euro was on the defensive on Wednesday as the latest scare over the euro zone banking system slapped it to lifetime lows against the Swiss franc and Australian dollar, while also boosting the safe-haven yen. Sharp falls in banking stocks dragged equities lower in Europe and the United States and gave the U.S. dollar a lift against most currencies, though not against the yen.

There it hit a fresh 15-year trough of 83.51 yen JPY= before talk of "semi-official" bids and option protection at 83.50 helped it edge up to 83.74.

Traders suspected the market would continue to test the downside to see if the Japanese authorities had the will to intervene this side of the psychological 80.00 level.

The euro was pinned at $1.2680 EUR= in early Asia, having dived from $1.2876 on Tuesday and a three-week high of $1.2920 the day before. Traders were now looking for a test of support around $1.2625, though they were not exactly keen to go long of the U.S. currency either.

"It's the same old ugly contest -- which currency is the least unattractive,' said a dealer at a local bank in Sydney.

"The market will probably try the August lows around $1.2588 as the path of least resistance, but it's not like anyone loves the dollar for itself," he added.

That was a point underlined by analysts at BNY Mellon who track investors flows in and out of currencies. They were seeing net outflows from the euro and the U.S. dollar, while Wall Street equities were almost as unpopular as sovereign bonds from the hard pressed euro zone "periphery" like Greece and Ireland.

"Investors clearly remain concerned about the sovereign debt burden of a number of peripheral Eurozone nations and, as a result, are still keen to reduce their exposure to the EUR as a result," BNY Mellon said in a note.

"On the other, they also have little faith in the outlook for the U.S. economy and are reducing their exposure steadily."

The main beneficiaries of this indecision seemed to be the yen and Swiss franc.

The euro fell almost 2 percent on the Japanese currency to 106.21 EURJPY= and was threatening to revisit the August lows around 105.35. It shed 1.6 percent against the franc to a record low around 1.2812 EURCHF= and traders saw little in the way of support until 1.2700. Traders said the focus was turning to significant option expiries on Thursday, when an estimated 1 billion euros are set to roll off at $1.2600.

The U.S. dollar index .DXY benefited almost by default, rising 1 percent to 82.899 and recovering almost all the losses of the previous four sessions.

Yet it made only modest gains on the Australian dollar, which is supported by relatively high domestic interest rates and a strong domestic economy. The Aussie eased about half a cent to $0.9115 AUD=, but found good bids under $0.9100.

It also reached a record on the euro, which slumped to A$1.3887 EURAUD=, from above A$1.4000 early Tuesday, breaching previous troughs hit in May and June. Sentiment on the global economy could be helped by Japanese data out Wednesday which showed core machinery orders up a surprisingly strong 8.8 percent in July, far above forecasts of a 1.8 percent gain. [ID:nTKG006858]

This is a very volatile series but it could suggest Japanese companies are learning to deal with the high yen, so lessening the need for the authorities to intervene. The main U.S. release later is the Federal Reserve Beige Book assessment of the economy. This has been getting steadily more negative in recent months and another downbeat report could give the U.S. dollar some trouble, while helping the euro.

(Reporting by Wayne Cole)