* Sterling/yen spikes to highest in two months * Cable under pressure as dollar advances * Euro/sterling under pressure, stuck to a range LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Sterling rose to its highest in two months against the yen on Monday and on track for its biggest daily gain in more than a year after Japanese authorities intervened to drive the yen lower. The dollar's gains post intervention left sterling under pressure against the greenback, although it managed to eke out gains against the euro. "Sterling is being driven by external factors -- investor perception about the dollar and the euro and the intervention by the Japanese has pushed the dollar higher, keeping cable under pressure," said Michael Derks, chief strategist, at FxPro. "But I would expect to see a fair bit of support around the $1.60 area." Sterling was down 0.65 percent on the day at $1.6013 versus the dollar and was well below at seven-week peak of $1.6153 hit on Friday. Still, the pound was on track for its best monthly performance against the dollar since April and some analysts said near term resistance lay around its 200-day moving average which comes in at around $1.6140. Against the yen, sterling spiked to as high as 127.26 yen, its highest since August 22. It tracked gains made in dollar/yen which jumped nearly 5 percent to a three-month high of 79.55 yen . The euro was also up against the yen rising more than 2 percent to trade at 109.55 yen, having risen to its highest since late August. The euro, however, lagged sterling, dropping 0.3 percent to 87.45 pence . Technically, the outlook remains bullish as it is trading above its 200-day average at 87.38 pence and hovering near its 100-day average at 87.77 pence. "Last week's late euro surge saw the single currency push beyond the 87.90/00 area but still within the broader range seen since mid July where there is a solid range of highs at 88.80/90," said Michael Hewson, market analyst at CMC. "While below these highs the broader range remains intact." Analysts said the focus this week would be a European Central Bank rate decision for the euro/sterling pair. A sharp deterioration in leading indicators in the euro zone has raised the chances the region could fall into recession. A Reuters poll sees the ECB keeping rates on hold this month but forecasts a cut in December. If the ECB holds rates but flags a cut soon, that could check gains in the euro/sterling pair, some traders said. Sterling has broadly underperformed the euro so far this year, especially against the dollar, on expectations of more quantitative easing from the Bank of England and the threat of recession in the UK. This week preliminary estimates of the third quarter UK GDP will be published and analysts expected a small rebound in growth. .

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