* Dollar/yen nears post-intervention peak of 79.553 yen * Aussie/yen hits 6-1/2 mth high on better risk appetite * Euro well above 3-week lows on hopes for Greek deal By Neal Armstrong LONDON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The yen hit a 3-1/2 month low versus the dollar on Friday as hopes Greece would soon sign a deal for a second bailout boosted appetite for risk, further undermining the Japanese unit after additional monetary easing in Tokyo this week. The euro, meanwhile, held well above three-week lows against the dollar and riskier currencies were also boosted after euro zone officials said they were putting the finishing touches to Greece's bailout for approval on Monday. Confirmation of a deal would further underpin currencies more sensitive to risk like the Australian dollar. The yen also hit a two-month trough against the euro and a 6-1/2 month low versus the Australian dollar after the Bank of Japan surprised markets this week by boosting its asset buying scheme by $130 billion. "The selloff in the yen is down to a combination of a more buoyant mood in equities and the determination of the Japanese authorities to weaken the currency by injecting more money into the economy," said Michael Derks, chief strategist at FXPro. "It would be a surprise though if we saw much more yen weakness as we could see a flood of yen purchases in March as Japanese year-end approaches." The dollar rose to a high of 79.187 yen on trading platform EBS, the highest level since Oct. 31 when Japan sold a record 8.07 trillion yen in currency intervention after the dollar hit a post-World War Two record low of 75.311 yen. The dollar was up about 2 percent on the week against the Japanese currency. Traders reported offers at 79.30/50 placed ahead of the post-intervention high on Oct. 31 at 79.553. The dollar, which breached its 200-day moving average earlier this week, neared its 55-week moving average at 79.12. Major resistance is in the 79.73 to 80.94 yen area, a range formed by the cloud on the weekly Ichimoku chart, a popular technical analysis tool. The euro hit a two-month high at 104.07 yen to trade up around 0.1 percent for the day. Upbeat U.S. jobs and factory activity data on Thursday continued to support the dollar against the Japanese currency, but with the Federal Reserve committed to keeping interest rates low, dollar gains based on higher U.S. yields were unlikely. "The dollar/yen rate spread correlation is not moving very much, with Fed seen on hold. We'd be reluctant to chase this move higher and see anything through 80 yen as looking overvalued," said Paul Robson, currency strategist at RBS. EURO CLINGING ON The euro clung to the previous day's gains, supported by hopes Greece would now avoid a hard default on its debts in March. The single currency was up slightly at $1.3151, above Thursday's low of $1.2974. Many in the market were sceptical over the euro's ability to rally significantly. Greece's bailout money will be disbursed only after a parallel debt restructuring takes place and jitters remain due to the tight schedule, with Greece needing to secure the funds before March 20, when it needs to pay back debt worth 14.5 billion euros. "I think we'll get this Greek deal and the euro will edge higher but Greece is clearly not out of the woods and its problems will be revisited many times in coming months," said Robson. "There's a lot of scepticism around euro/dollar rallying strongly," he added. Euro short positions are thought to have been reduced in recent weeks as the currency recovered from 17-month lows hit in January, helped by cheap liquidity provision from the European Central Bank which helped ease tight funding conditions. "Our positioning indicator has turned neutral, suggesting that any EUR rally from this point onwards is unlikely to have the same magnitude as the rebound seen in early January," said Morgan Stanley in a note to clients. "In January, the market was overwhelmingly EUR short, which is not the case now." The better tone for the euro underpinned riskier currencies. The Australian dollar was up slightly on the day at $1.0773, above a two-week low hit on Tuesday of $1.0629.

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