* Euro surges, relief at Basel bank regulations help
* China data lifts risk appetite, helps Aussie to 4-mth high
(Updates prices, changes byline, dateline; pvs TOKYO)
By Jessica Mortimer
LONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - The euro jumped against the dollar on Monday as relief at new global banking regulations and upbeat Chinese data lifted investor appetite for currencies seen as higher-risk.
Global regulators agreed tough new capital requirements for banks on Sunday, but these were broadly as expected and markets reacted positively as lenders were given longer than expected to comply with the rules.
Upbeat Chinese economic numbers propelled the higher-yielding Australian dollar to its highest in four months versus the greenback, while the low-yielding yen also retreated.
The euro extended gains after stop loss orders were triggered around $1.2750/70 and then above $1.2800, breaking above its 55-day moving average at $1.2815.
"Better risk appetite is putting the dollar under pressure and the euro and currencies like the Australian dollar have been holding up very well," said Niels Christensen, currency strategist at Nordea in Copenhagen.
At 0749 GMT, the euro was up 1.1 percent against the dollar at $1.2822. It also rose 0.8 percent against the yen to 107.60 yen.
New Basel III rules agreed on Sunday will require banks to hold top-quality capital totalling 7 percent of their risk-bearing assets. The regulations give banks longer than expected to comply and this lifted equities, with European shares up 0.7 percent.
Analysts said the euro was targeting $1.2920, a level it failed to break above earlier this month, but they warned that unless it topped that level it was likely to remain within its recent ranges.
The euro has been in a broad downtrend against the dollar this year on concerns about sovereign debt and the European banking system. It is holding above its 100-day moving average of $1.2652, which has tended to act as a trendline.
YEN FALLS, AUSSIE SHINES
The yen fell broadly, though it eked out gains against the dollar, which traded down 0.2 percent at 83.98 yen to keep it near a recent 15-year low of 83.34 yen.
This kept alive jitters about whether Japanese authorities may step in to curb yen gains ahead of a leadership election on Tuesday in which Prime Minister Naoto Kan is being challenged by powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, who has said he favours intervention.
Traders said the dollar was caught in a range, with bids from Japanese importers around 83.50-80 yen, while exporter offers were reported above 84.20 yen.
Weekend data showed Chinese factories ramped up production in August and money growth topped expectations, indicating the economy remained buoyant despite government efforts to clamp down on bank lending and property speculation.
"There's a general risk-on move as relatively benign Chinese data over the weekend and a lack of policy tightening, which had been rumoured, are all encouraging risk," said John Horner, a foreign exchange strategist at Deutsche Bank in Sydney.
That helped the Australian dollar rise 0.6 percent to $0.9330, its strongest since late April. It faces resistance at the April high of $0.9389 and then its 2009 peak at $0.9407.
It also hit 78.51 yen, its highest in a month and above its 100-day moving average at 78.00 yen.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed currency speculators slightly raised net long yen positions in the week ending Sept. 7, just before the yen's latest 15-year high. They also raised net long position in the Australian dollar.
(Additional reporting by Charlotte Cooper in Tokyo)