FOREX-Euro gains as concerns over Greece recede

* Euro up vs yen, dollar; high-yielding currencies up

* Sarkozy comments help euro on receding Greek concerns

(Recasts, updates prices, adds detail, changes dateline, previous LONDON)

NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - The euro rose broadly on Monday while the dollar was mostly weaker amid easing concerns on Greece's fiscal problems after French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday hinted at plans to support Greece.

Sarkozy promised that euro zone countries would help Greece if its financial problems worsened. [ID:nPAB008209]. Greece has been a heavy weight in 2010 on the euro, which has lost 4.5 percent against the dollar year-to-date and 7.2 percent against the yen.

International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told Reuters on Monday that Greece's financial problems were unlikely to spread to other euro zone countries with high levels of public debt. [ID:nLDE6260HE]

"Greece has been a big negative, which now, has receded," said Marc Chandler, head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York. "In the short run, it's consolidation mode, which is dollar negative."

In early morning New York trade, the euro <EUR=> was up 0.3 percent at $1.3660.

"The euro could move higher if it breaks the $1.3720/1.3750 area, but for the moment I don't see it has the momentum," said Antje Praefcke, currency strategist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.

The dollar index <.DXY>, a non traded calculation of the dollar's performance against a basket of currencies, was 0.3 percent lower at 80.215.

The latest positioning data showed currency speculators more than halved their bets on the U.S. dollar rising in the week to March 2. [IMM/FX]

For graphics on dollar and euro positioning see:

http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/310/US_CFTCSB0310.gif

http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/310/EZ_ERCFTC0310.gif

YEN DIPS, AUSSIE SHINES

Against the yen, the euro rose 0.3 percent to 123.34 yen <EURJPY=>, having hit a two-week high earlier on Monday.

"While dollar/yen has derived support from the payrolls data, the improvement in confidence over Greece is clearly helping support euro/yen," Derek Halpenny, European head of global currency research at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

He added that the U.S. jobs data has left market participants "more convinced over the potential for sustainable gross domestic product growth in the United States."

Friday's data showed U.S. employers cut fewer jobs than expected in February, lifting the view the U.S. may be close to creating jobs. [ID:nN04252324]

The dollar trimmed gains after touching a two-week high against the yen to trade little changed from the prior close at 90.31 yen <JPY=>.

The Australian dollar <AUD=> was up 0.5 percent at $0.9116, having earlier risen to its highest since January 21.

The higher-yielding currency, boosted by improved risk sentiment, gained further after Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> and PetroChina <0857.HK> are bidding more than $3 billion for Australia's Arrow Energy <AOE.AX>. [ID:nSGE62602R]

Analysts said the break above $0.9100 helped the currency extend gains, with the next target seen at $0.9150.

Against the yen <AUDJPY=R>, the Aussie was at 82.32 yen, having earlier hit a two-week high. The New Zealand dollar <NZD=> rose 0.7 percent versus the U.S. dollar to $0.7016. (Reporting by Nick Olivari and Jessica Mortimer; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)