* Euro up as ECB hints at slow-motion exit strategy
* BofA news triggers risk appetite, pushes dollar down
* Yen pulls further away from 14-year highs vs dollar
* Bernanke defends Fed actions in renomination hearing (Updates prices, adds Bernanke testimony, Geithner comments)
By Steven C. Johnson
NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The euro rose against the dollar on Thursday after the European Central Bank hinted it would slowly start withdrawing emergency liquidity while the yen fell amid fears Japan may move to weaken its currency.
Though the ECB at a meeting left interest rates at record lows, its president Jean-Claude Trichet said the next 12-month refinancing operation for banks would be the last. The bank also lifted its economic growth forecast for 2010.
The euro neared a 16-month high around $1.5140 and rose against the yen but it gave up some gains when Trichet said plans to wind down some emergency programs were not a signal that interest rates may be about to change.
"He hinted that they'll do something about an exit policy, so the first knee-jerk reaction was euro positive, but he's not ready to endorse a full exit quite yet, so it's really neither overly supportive of, nor detrimental to, the euro," said Boris Schlossberg, head of research at GFT Forex in New York.
Ultra-loose monetary policy tends to undermine a currency's value because it increases money supply and risks inflation.
The euro rose 0.3 percent to $1.5085 and 1.1 percent to 132.94 yen.
The euro got a modest boost when Bank of America said it would repay bailout funds to the U.S. government. That increased risk appetite and suggested banking sector improvement.
The yen was under pressure for the second straight day after the Bank of Japan said this week it would provide new three-month funding to banks to combat deflation and after top officials warned that the currency had grown too strong.
The dollar was up 0.8 percent at 88.15 yen, off a 14-year low of of 84.82 yen plumbed last week.
BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said the central bank does not target foreign exchange for monetary policy but "if the bank's easy stance becomes widely known in markets, it will have certain effects on the currency market in the long run."
Sterling fell 0.3 percent to $1.6575 while the dollar fell 0.3 percent to 0.9989 Swiss francs.
TRICHET, BERNANKE SPEAK
Analysts said Trichet had to walk a fine line as any hint of a rate rise would prompt traders to bid up the euro, especially as the U.S. Federal Reserve has said it would keep its own rates low for an extended time.
"He's saying the outlook for economic growth is still uncertain, which means he's not overly confident, and it seems that is capping the euro gains," said Hidetoshi Yanagihara, senior FX trader at Mizuho Corporate Bank in New York.
In Washington, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke made his case for a second term in testimony before Congress, telling lawmakers the Fed's forceful actions have prevented a devastating crisis from turning into something even worse.
Bernanke also pledged to maintain price stability and said fiscal deficits eventually have to come down. Some analysts have worried that rising U.S. debt and deficits will undermine the dollar further and eventually provoke higher inflation.
In separate remarks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner reiterated the importance of a strong dollar and said the United States must persuade the world it will be more fiscally responsible. (Additional reporting by Tamawa Desai in London; Editing by James Dalgleish)