* Euro hits 10-week low vs dollar, yen, Swiss franc
* Single currency dented by growing contagion fears
* Peripheral bond spreads widen, no lift from Irish deal
By Jessica Mortimer
LONDON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The euro hit its lowest in 10 weeks against the dollar, yen and Swiss franc on Tuesday after a weekend rescue package for Ireland failed to calm worries that bailouts would be needed in other euro zone countries.
The premiums investors demand to hold Spanish and Italian sovereign bonds over German debt hit their highest since the euro's launch and some of the region's "core" debt issuers, including France, were pressured.
An 85 billion euro deal for Ireland, agreed by European Union finance ministers on Sunday, failed to stop euro zone peripheral bond yields rising sharply on Monday, reflecting a lack of confidence the deal would contain the euro zone's debt crisis.
"Markets are very downbeat on the euro zone periphery, not just about Portugal but also Spain and Italy," said Stephan Maier, currency strategist at Unicredit in Milan.
"The euro has had a hard fall and has not been lifted by the finalising of the Irish rescue deal".
He added, however, that the euro may have strong support ahead of the psychologically key $1.30 level, particularly as much of the bad news on the euro zone may be priced in after a fall of around 8 percent in euro/dollar since its peak earlier this month.
The euro fell 0.8 percent on the day against the dollar to $1.3008, its lowest since Sept. 16. It stayed well below its 200-day moving average at $1.3127.
The single currency also slid to 1.2990 Swiss francs and 109.35 yen, both 10-week lows.
"With euro positioning nowhere near any extreme there is more scope for downside over the coming sessions," a London-based trader said.
"Flows retained a negative euro bias with macro funds selling euro cash and positioning to the downside via options."
The latest positioning data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed speculators going net short on the euro for the first time since Sept. 14.
"There are just so many worries over the euro zone. The euro will test the $1.20-1.25 area this month. I think it could fall to $1.20 in the first quarter of next year," said Hideki Amikura, forex manager at Nomura Trust and Banking in Tokyo.
DOLLAR GAINS
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar rose 0.5 percent to a two-month high of 81.278, as safe-haven flows and recent evidence of an improving U.S. economy supported the greenback.
The dollar slipped 0.2 percent to 84.04 yen, pulled back by month-end selling by Japanese exporters, but still close to Monday's two-month high of 84.41.
The higher-yielding Australian dollar slipped 0.4 percent to $0.9595, dented by falls in Chinese shares and risk aversion as a result of the euro zone crisis.
The Aussie erased earlier gains made after a batch of Australian economic data lessened the risk of unwelcome weakness in third-quarter GDP due on Wednesday.
(Additional reporting by Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo)