* Dollar near latest lows vs euro, index, Aussie
* Euro retreats after early push higher
* BOJ, RBA, others meet this week, plenty of event risk
By Charlotte Cooper
TOKYO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The dollar held near its weakest levels in six months against the euro on Monday, after Federal Reserve officials said more stimulus might be needed if the U.S. economic outlook remained weak.
The euro had a quick run above $1.3800 to its strongest levels since mid-March in very early Asian trade but then retreated as sell orders from Middle Eastern banks kicked in, one trader at a Canadian bank said.
It slipped 0.3 percent to $1.3760 but was still holding on to most of Friday's gains, when it rose 1 percent.
"Despite massive problems in Europe, it still seems to be the only alternative to the U.S. when it comes to diversification of FX reserves," said Robert Ryan, FX strategist at BNP Paribas in Singapore.
"And people who have missed most of this move are still buying on dips."
The dollar looked vulnerable against a basket of currencies, hovering just above Friday's eight-month low of 78.029.
Data on Friday showed U.S. manufacturing growth slowed last month and inflation remained subdued in August, leaving the door open for the Federal Reserve to launch a fresh round of monetary policy easing.
William Dudley, New York Fed President, described current conditions of high unemployment and low inflation as "unacceptable" and Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said more easing was "desirable". However Dallas Fed chief Richard Fisher cautioned the debate was not yet over.
Currency speculators' bets against the dollar swelled to $22 billion in the week to Sept. 28, the largest value since at least mid-2008, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed.
Long positions in the euro jumped to 35,330 contracts from 5,097 in the previous week, while long positions in the yen rose to 28,666 contracts from 23,100.
The dollar was holding at 83.37 yen, having twice found support at 83.15/16 last week, above its 15-year low of 82.87 yen set just before Japan intervened for the first time in six years on Sept. 15.
Traders reported talk of stop-loss sell orders below 83.15 yen.
The market remains nervous of Japanese intervention. Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku cautioned in a weekend interview with Reuters that current yen moves were too speculative.
The Bank of Japan holds a policy meeting on Monday and Tuesday and is expected to ease policy once more although analysts expect it will only expand a cheap fund-supply tool rather then taking more aggressive steps.
Australia has a partial holiday on Monday. The Australian dollar eased 0.1 percent to $0.9707 but was still close to a two-year high of $0.9751 set on Friday.
The central bank holds a rate review on Tuesday and is seen as more likely than not to raise the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.75 percent, although the decision is not seen as a done deal. If it does, the move would be the first since May. (Additional reporting by Reuters FX analyst Krishna Kumar in Sydney; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)