* Euro/dollar slips 0.4 pct to $1.2595 * Weak shares support dollar as investors dump risky assets * ECB's Trichet to speak later in the day (Changes dateline, byline, releads, updates throughout; previous TOKYO) By Naomi Tajitsu LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The euro fell against the dollar and the yen on Tuesday, as a stream of evidence that the global economy is continuing to suffer kept demand high for unwinding risky positions in favour of low-yielding currencies. Shaky European stock market moves kept risk aversion high, after Asian and U.S. stocks fell on news that Citigroup was axing 15 percent of its work force [ID:nN17468336] and crippled U.S. automakers were desperate for government loans [ID:nLI286476]. Stock markets around the world have been hit by the view that the depth and scope of a global recession may be extensive, and analysts said that investors were coming to terms with the possibility that there would be no quick fix for these problems. This view kept many investors keen to dump risky positions and keep their proceeds in dollars, and analysts said that the struggle in shares was likely to keep the U.S. currency supported. "The big issue is whether we are going to see a continuation of dollar repatriation," said James Shugg, economist at Westpac in London. "There's likely (to be) nothing to stop this from happening in the short term." Investors awaited a speech by European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet later in the day for any more clues on how much more the bank may cut interest rates as the euro zone has fallen into recession. Also on Tuesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee about the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The euro fell roughly 0.4 percent to $1.2600 by 0854 GMT, pulling back from a session high of $1.2664 earlier in the day as European shares .FTEU3 fell 1 percent. Against the yen , the euro also fell 0.4 percent to 121.44 yen. The dollar was little changed at 96.40 yen . It rose against the Australian dollar , pushing the antipodean currency 1 percent lower after the Reserve Bank of Australia reinforced expectations of more interest rate cuts [ID:nSYD83500]. Sterling traded 0.2 percent higher at $1.5042 before UK consumer prices figures that were expected to show that inflation is coming off recent peaks, which would clear the way for more interest rate cuts by the Bank of England. Lower price risks and extreme economic weakness prompted the BoE to slash rates by 150 basis points to 3.0 percent earlier in the month. ECB rates are at 3.25 percent, following a 50 basis point cut this month. Following months of highly volatile trade which has seen the low-yielding dollar and yen surge as risky assets fall out of fashion, market participants said that currencies may have entered a consolidation phase. "We've been running a long marathon. It feels like some fatigue has set into the market and we may finally see some consolidation," said David Bloom, global head of forex research at HSBC in London. He added that it was possible that currencies would enter a period of range trading before the year-end, but added that those ranges could be larger than normal. (Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; editing by David Stamp)

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