* Euro dips before France, Germany, Greece teleconference * EU's Barroso comments on euro bonds help it off lows * But further falls below $1.35 seen possible * French bank ratings downgraded; high-yielding Aussie slides By Jessica Mortimer LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The euro fell against the dollar on Wednesday as investors showed no confidence that talks between Greece, France and Germany would mark a significant step towards resolving the euro zone's debt crisis. The single currency gained some respite from European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso's pledge that it would soon publish a long-promised study on introducing euro area bonds, but he warned it would not put an end to the crisis and Germany remains firmly opposed to any such move. Analysts said the severity of the currency area's debt problems meant the market was more inclined to sell the euro on negative news than to buy it on positive news. "The market may get comfort from those kind of comments but overall the picture is increasingly negative and appetite from foreign investors for euro zone assets seems to be waning," said Ian Stannard, head of European currency strategy at Morgan Stanley. The euro was still seen vulnerable to a test of Monday's seven month trough at $1.3495. It was last down 0.1 percent at $1.3665 . Traders said it was held up by demand from central banks around the $1.3600 level, though offers reported around $1.3670 capped gains. Morgan Stanley have cut their euro forecasts and now expect a fall to $1.30 by year-end, arguing recent economic, political and monetary policy developments have combined to create a more negative outlook for the euro. Focus on Wednesday will centre on a conference call due later between Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Markets were hopeful it may result in support for Greece and tame concerns about a Greek default but they were not confident any agreement would be enough to stem contagion to larger euro zone countries such as Italy and Spain. Meanwhile, concerns about the fragility of the euro zone banking sector knocked sentiment after Moody's earlier cut the credit ratings of two major French banks, pressuring the euro and high-yielding currencies like the Aussie dollar. "If pressure continues on bigger countries like Spain and Italy and if there is no help from the Federal Reserve in the form of more quantitative easing there is a risk of euro/dollar settling into a $1.35-$1.30 range," said Roberto Mialich, currency strategist at Unicredit in Milan. "One piece of negative news is enough to erase any recovery in euro/dollar at the moment". Some analysts and officials have argued that a move to common debt issuance of the sort referred to by Barroso could provide the decisive structural change which finally caps the euro zone crisis. On Tuesday Italy was forced to offer the highest interest on 5-year bonds since joining the euro in 1999. AUSSIE SLIDES Waning appetite for risk as the euro zone crisis rumbled on also weighed on higher-yielding and perceived riskier currencies. The Australian dollar fell more than 1 percent to $1.0197 , hit particularly hard after a downward adjustment to second-quarter inflation added to the case against higher rates. The fall in the Aussie accelerated after it slipped below major support at $1.0247, the 61.8 percent retracement of its rally last month, and it dropped to a one month low of $1.0178. In a measure of the alarm in Washington, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will take the unprecedented step of attending a meeting of EU finance ministers in Poland on Friday. It will be his second trip to Europe in a week after he met his main EU counterparts at a G7 meeting last weekend. The dollar index was up 0.25 percent at 77.113, with analysts saying the U.S. currency was increasingly attractive as a safe haven, particularly after action by Switzerland to curb strength in the Swiss franc. Investors were also wary of possible intervention by Japan to weaken the yen, which is typically favoured as a safe haven currency. The dollar stayed steady at 76.86 yen , remaining within the 76.40/77.85 range of the last three weeks. (Additional reporting by Antoni Slodkowski in Tokyo; editing by Ron Askew)

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