FOREX-Italy debt sale lifts euro, yen gains vs dollar after BOJ action

* Euro up versus dollar after Spanish Q3 GDP report
* Italy debt auctions also help euro
* Yen hits one-week high vs dollar
* BOJ eases policy but some had expected more
* Volumes below typical after storm Sandy strikes U.S. East
Coast

NEW YORK, Oct 30 (Reuters) - The euro rallied against the
dollar and yen on Tuesday after data showed the Spanish economy
contracted slightly less than expected in the third quarter and
Italy's borrowing costs fell at a sale of five- and 10-year
debt.
The yen rose against the dollar after monetary easing steps
from the Bank of Japan disappointed investors who had positioned
for a more aggressive increase in asset purchases.
Trading moves were exacerbated earlier in the New York day
by lighter-than-usual volume as U.S. trading desks were only
thinly staffed after one of the biggest storms ever to hit the
United States battered the eastern seaboard, but volume did pick
up as the session progressed.
"Slightly better-than-expected Spanish GDP in the third
quarter gave the euro a bit of a bounce," said Joseph Trevisani,
chief market strategist at Worldwide Markets in Woodcliff Lake,
New Jersey. "That was complemented by a reasonably successful
Italian bond auction."
The euro was last up 0.4 percent at $1.2959, still
close to the session peak of $1.2983.
The euro was bid after data showed the Spanish economy
contracted for a fifth straight quarter in the three months to
September at a slightly slower rate than forecast.

It was also helped by improved demand at an Italian debt
auction.
Some $4.17 billion in euros has changed hands globally so
far on the last Tuesday of October, compared with $4.87 billion
for the entire session on the last Tuesday of September,
according to Reuters Dealing.
A report showing U.S. single-family home prices rose in
August, the latest sign that the housing market is on the mend,
also bolstered risk appetite and demand for the euro.
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The data is "unlikely to obstruct the Fed's quantitative
easing, which is largely aimed at sending the unemployment rate
down towards 7 percent," said Ashraf Laidi, chief global
strategist at City Index in London.
Gains for the euro looked likely to be capped by concerns
about whether Greece can agree to a deal on more austerity, and
uncertainty over when Spain might request financial aid.
Euro zone finance ministers will hold a conference call on
Wednesday to discuss progress in negotiations of the revised
Greek bailout but are not expected to make any decisions yet,
two euro zone officials said on Tuesday.
The overwhelming majority of lawmakers from Greece's
Socialist PASOK party, the second-biggest partner in the
country's ruling coalition, will support a raft of austerity and
reform measures in a parliamentary vote, two lawmakers told
Reuters on Tuesday.

BOJ MOVES
The BOJ increased its monetary stimulus for a second month
running, this time by 11 trillion yen ($138.5
billion). The yen gained after this, with traders
saying there had been speculation of a bigger move.
"Dollar/yen dove through the 79.50 level in the wake of the
BOJ announcement on quantitative easing that disappointed the
markets," said Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX
strategy at BK Asset Management in New York. "Many traders were
hoping that Japanese monetary officials would deliver a bigger
boost."
The dollar hit a one-week low of 79.25 yen, breaking
below important chart support at the 200-day moving average. It
was last down 0.2 percent on the day at 79.60 yen.
Friday's four-month peak of 80.36 was expected to act as
resistance for the dollar.
The euro also fell to a two-week low against the
yen before reversing course to trade 0.2 percent higher at
103.15 yen mostly due to cross trading as the euro rallied
against the dollar.
Strategists said it was too early to tell what impact the
destruction caused across the U.S. eastern seaboard by the giant
storm Sandy might have on currency markets.
Demand for the dollar tends to rise in times of reduced
appetite to take on risk, but if widespread damage prompted
speculation the Fed might ease policy further to shore up the
economy, the dollar could fall.
While Wall Street and the U.S. bond cash market stayed shut
with many traders in the tri-state area homebound, futures on
U.S. Treasuries and short-term interest rates changed hands,
albeit on unusually light volume.
The encouraging report on U.S. home prices from
S&P/Case-Shiller added some selling pressure on T-note and rates
contracts.
The Dec 10-year Treasury note futures last traded down 4/32
at 132-21/32.