FOREX-Dollar and euro rally vs yen and Swiss franc

* China data, Dubai World deal support risk appetite

* Euro and dollar rally against Swiss franc and yen

* Dollar/yen trading around 84 yen

(Recasts with additional details, adds quote, updates prices, changes dateline, previous LONDON, changes byline)

By Nick Olivari

NEW YORK, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The euro and dollar rallied against the yen while commodity bloc currencies rose on Friday, as strong import data from China raised optimism about global economic growth and prompted higher risk tolerance.

China's imports leapt in August, boding well for a strengthening of domestic demand in an economy that has become a major driver of global growth. [ID:nTOE689024].

News that Dubai World [DBWLD.UL] had reached a deal to restructure liabilities helped ease recently renewed fears about Dubai's debt woes and also boosted risk demand. [ID:nLDE6890IT].

The yen was down against the dollar but remained near the 15-year high touched earlier this week, keeping prospects for yen intervention alive.

The Swiss franc stumbled as investors sold safe-haven currencies.

"There has been strong risk assumption on the China data overnight," said John Doyle, senior currency strategist at Tempus Consulting in Washington. "The lack of U.S. economic data will also allow the dollar to trade in line with equities."

For the moment, currency markets shrugged off worries about European banks and news of a possible 9 billion euro capital raising by Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) [ID:nLDE6890CH], ahead of a meeting to finalise European capital rules at the weekend.

The dollar rose nearly 1.2 percent on the day to 1.0271 francs CHF=. The euro also rallied against the franc, hitting the day's high of 1.3074 francs EURCHF= as the Swiss currency came under selling pressure due to the rise in risk appetite. Resistance on euro/Swiss franc is seen around 1.3085.

Traders cited Swiss banks selling the safe-haven franc against the euro, dollar and other currencies.

The euro was last little changed against the dollar at $1.2694 EUR= coming off the day's high of $1.2747 as U.S. bond yields rose and investors adjusted portfolios. [ID:nNYE002887].

Strategists have remained sceptical about any euro gains, given the euro zone periphery's debt worries and renewed concern this week about the region's banking sector.

"It is a risk-on environment which is helping the euro, but clearly structural problems remain given widening spreads and well known problems about its banking sector," said Simon Derrick, head of currency research at Bank of New York Mellon.

Derrick's bank's data showed demand was not recovering for assets in euro zone markets like Greece, Italy and Portugal.

European Central Bank executive board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi warned on Friday of a looming debt crunch in several developed countries that could cripple economies if left unchecked. [ID:nLDE6890ZV]

YEN WATCH

Against the yen, the dollar traded in a tight range between 84.33 and 83.76 JPY= with the U.S. currency last up 0.5 percent at 84.26 yen. Stop loss orders on dollar/yen were reported at 83.70 and 83.75.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan reiterated that Japanese authorities would take decisive steps on the yen if needed. Joint intervention in currency markets, however, would be difficult, he said. [ID:nTOE689076]

The shift away from safe-haven currencies also kept the yen under pressure against the higher-yielding currencies and the euro EURJPY= amid continued rhetoric by Japanese authorities.

The euro was last up 0.7 percent at 107.16 yen.

The dollar hit a 15-year low of 83.34 yen on electronic trading plaform EBS JPY=EBS this week, intensifying speculation that Japan might step in to curb yen gains if the move accelerated towards 80 yen. The Reuters recorded low is 83.32 yen JPY=.

Investor attention is now turning to a ruling party leadership race on September 14 in which Kan faces a challenge from powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa.

Most commodity bloc currencies were up against the dollar after the China import report.

The Australian dollar AUD= was up 0.2 percent against the U.S. dollar and the New Zealand dollar NZD= rose 0.6 percent. The U.S. dollar fell 0.2 percent against the Canadian dollar CAD= and 0.2 percent against the South African rand ZAR=. (Additional reporting by Anirban Nag in London)