REFILE-FOREX-Euro holds steady, gets little lift from EFSF plan

* Hopes for steps to tackle debt crisis lend euro support

* Talk of more money for IMF taken as a positive

* Focus on Dec. 9 EU summit

* Euro bids cited between $1.3275 and $1.3290

By Masayuki Kitano

SINGAPORE, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The euro held steady on Wednesday as the market gave a guarded reception to details on the euro zone's new lending facility and on proposals to expand funding for the IMF so it could lend to troubled members such as Italy.

Euro zone finance ministers agreed to use the EFSF fund as a sort of bond insurance vehicle that would provide partial protection of 20-30 percent against losses on the principal of new bonds issued by a requesting member.

The euro was little changed at $1.3312, still above a seven-week low near $1.3213 hit late last week, but down from the previous day's high of around $1.3443.

The single currency had slid 7 percent from a peak of $1.4248 hit in late October down to last week's low.

It faces resistance near $1.3457, the 23.6 percent retracement of that drop. On the downside, there was talk of bids between $1.3275 and $1.3290.

Kimihiko Tomita, head of foreign exchange for State Street Global Markets in Tokyo, said a rise in the euro and risky assets this week has likely been driven by short-term players, with longer-term players taking a more cautious stance.

"Flows from institutional investors show that they have returned to selling (risky assets) again," Tomita said.

The euro showed limited reaction to comments by European Central Bank governing council member Christian Noyer, who said a period of market disruption may involve temporary and exceptional interventions and that the ECB's bond buying programme it totally justified by the ECB's primary mandate.

Noyer was speaking at a conference in Singapore.

CAUTIOUS MOOD

The single currency has gotten some respite in the past few days helped by signs that Germany and France are pushing for more rapid, deeper fiscal integration among euro zone countries, and hopes for IMF assistance for Italy.

The prospects for the IMF aid were unclear, with the fund denying it was in talks to provide assistance.

That clashed with a Reuters report citing several sources saying the IMF had indeed held preliminary talks with Italy about providing financial support, though no decision had been taken.

Meanwhile, the euro zone is discussing the option of financing emergency help for Italy or Spain by using money from national central banks to boost IMF resources - but only as a last resort, euro zone officials said.

Market sentiment remained fragile, given that investors have been disappointed many times before.

"We still think there's an enormous amount of skepticism that people don't think that Europe is going to deliver," said Rob Ryan, FX strategist at BNP Paribas in Singapore.

"It's clear that short positions are very large, that people are underweight risk, hedge funds are back in cash," Ryan said.

Signs of a push from Germany and France towards a fiscal union, along with some year-end position unwinding, have helped spur a short-covering rally in risky assets this week, he added.

"At the first sign that they are not going to deliver... I think those shorts get piled on again," Ryan said, adding that a focal point will be how much headway European officials make going into a European Union summit on Dec. 9.

Still, even efforts to ease the region's debt crisis may not necessarily prop up the euro.

Perhaps the best outcome that can be hoped for at this stage may be a move toward fiscal integration that imposes tighter budget controls on euro zone members, coupled with stepped up bond purchases by the ECB, State Street's Tomita said.

Such monetary easing may drag the euro lower and buy time for highly indebted euro zone countries to improve their fiscal situation, he said.

"If the euro weakens and that helps improve the euro zone's economy and enables members to keep a commitment to fiscal discipline, there would be cheers all around," Tomita said.

News that S&P had downgraded a swathe of major global banks also added to the cautious mood. That was evident in S&P 500 futures which were down 0.8 percent.

The Australian dollar dipped 0.4 percent to $0.9967 . Earlier, the Aussie had risen to as high as $1.0087, helped by data showing that Australian business investment surged by the most in 16 years last quarter.

The dollar held steady versus the yen at 77.95 yen, having backed off of a one-month high of 78.29 yen hit the previous day.