* Risk appetite hit by weak U.S. jobs data, euro zone debt * Dollar up broadly, benefiting from weaker euro * Obama's speech to Congress on Thursday eyed By Hideyuki Sano and Ian Chua TOKYO/SYDNEY, Sept 5 (Reuters) - The euro fell to fresh three-week lows against the dollar in Asia on Monday, while commodity currencies also came under pressure as worries about euro zone debt problems and weak U.S. payrolls data hit appetite for riskier assets. Data last Friday showed U.S. employment growth ground to a halt in August, while the European debt crisis continued to fester with Greece and its international lenders now at odds over whether it has met conditions for a new aid tranche. "Concern about high debt in Europe has resurfaced, and those poor payrolls results certainly got people worried about the U.S. economy and the global economy as well, that's seen pressure on the euro and Aussie. I think that'll continue for the first half of the week," said Joseph Capurso, strategist at Commonwealth Bank in Sydney. The euro fell 0.3 percent to $1.4164 , after briefly dropping to $1.41367, its lowest since Aug 11, with the next target seen at $1.4110, a 61.8 percent retracement of its rise in July-August. That helped drive the dollar index back to one-month highs. The euro faces a week packed with potential event risk, both political and legal, beginning with the German Federal Constitutional court ruling on Wednesday on suits claiming Berlin is breaking German law and European treaties by contributing to multi-billion euro bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal. There is growing speculation over whether the ECB would continue purchasing Italian debt, a strategy that has caused sharp divisions within the Frankfurt-based central bank ahead of the bank's policy meeting on Thursday. The ECB's intervention was launched on the understanding that Italy would rush through an austerity plan to regain market confidence but efforts by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's embattled government to do this have been plagued by disputed figures, policy U-turns and cabinet rows. FRIDAY DEADLINE Greece has also set a deadline of Friday afternoon for European banks to express their interest in its bond swap. Athens wants 135 billion euros of outstanding bonds to be swapped or rolled over, which translates to a high take-up rate of 90 percent. It has warned that the whole scheme, and conceivably even its plan to receive a second international bailout, could be threatened if that target is not hit. While Greece appears likely to come close enough to the 90 percent threshold to declare the operation a success, some market players are worried after Greece and the troika of its international lenders interrupted talks on a new aid tranche late last week after disagreement over why Athens has fallen behind schedule in cutting its budget deficit. Highlighting growing frustration in Germany, the euro zone's paymaster, over bailouts, Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right bloc suffered another stinging defeat on Sunday in a regional election. "Countries that need help are getting tired of reforms. Countries that are paying money are getting tired of helping," said Kimihiko Tomita, manager of forex at State Street. "The outlook of the euro zone bailout scheme is becoming a bit shaky." As many European financial institutions are saddled with losses on bond holdings, traders are also worried that their funding could face more strains, putting pressure on the euro. The Australian dollar fell 0.5 percent to $1.0595, having broken through the 55-day moving average at $1.0628. It was well off last week's peak around $1.0765. Against the yen, the dollar held reasonably steady at 76.83 , holding off a record low around 75.94 plumbed last month with markets still wary of Japanese intervention. U.S. stocks slid 2 percent on Friday in the wake of the U.S. jobs data as investors fretted more about the economic outlook rather than looking ahead to another round of Federal Reserve debt buying, known as quantitative easing (QE). Still, the outlook of another round of easing could harm the dollar if sovereign players continue to buy the euro on dips. There is also the prospect of further fiscal measures, with President Barack Obama due to address a joint session of Congress on Thursday to lay out plans to create jobs. Daisuke Uno, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, said those expansionary U.S. policies are likely to push down the dollar in coming weeks. "The job proposals from Obama, who is visiting Detroit before announcing the plan, will likely pursue a cheaper dollar. Further fiscal stimulus could put U.S. debt problems under the spotlight as well," he said. (Reporting by Hideyuki Sano; Editing by Joseph Radford)

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