* Euro remains pressured; trade thin with U.S. holiday
* Sterling hits 4-mo high vs euro of 87.97 pence
* SNB's Hildebrand repeats will fight franc appreciation (Releads, adds quotes, changes dateline prvs TOKYO)
By Tamawa Desai
LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The euro hit a four-month low against a broadly firmer pound on Monday, under pressure in subdued trade with U.S. markets closed for a holiday.
Concerns over Greece and its ballooning fiscal deficit weighed on the single currency and market players will keep a close eye on comments from euro zone finance ministers meeting on Monday.
"The Greek government has lost all fiscal credibility with the market," said Lee Hardman, currency economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
"We are also seeing some risk aversion on slowing growth momentum in developed economies such as Germany."
Sterling gained on firmer UK housing data and as speculative players chased it higher on reports that French utility GDF Suez was eyeing a tie-up with Britain's International Power .
At 0838 GMT, the euro was flat on the day at $1.4376. Traders said options with a $1.4400 strike price expiring later in the day were helping to rein in the pair.
Against the pound, the euro was down 0.4 percent at 88.02 pence, after touching 87.97 pence, its lowest since mid-September. Sterling was up 0.4 percent at $1.6337.
Against the yen, the euro made up earlier losses and stood at 130.81 yen, up 0.2 percent on the day.
The dollar index, a gauge of the greenback's performance against six other major currencies, was at 77.202 versus Friday's U.S. close of 77.323.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday showed the value of the dollar's net short position was around $2.7 billion in the week ending Jan. 12, shifting from a net long of $4.25 billion the previous week, according to Reuters calculations. This was the first net short position on the dollar since Dec. 15.
It also showed a swing to a net long Swiss franc position from a net short position the previous week.
SWISS FRANC
Swiss National Bank head Philipp Hildebrand was quoted as saying on Sunday the central bank would act resolutely to prevent an excessive appreciation of the franc to ward off the danger of deflation.
"We will not allow the risk of deflation to be realised in Switzerland through such an appreciation," Hildebrand said in an interview with the Swiss weekly Sonntags-Zeitung.
"We do not have an exchange rate target, but we will resolutely prevent an excessive appreciation of the franc in the current environment," he was quoted as saying.
The euro was steady at 1.4757 francs.
Meanwhile, the yen showed little reaction to a funding scandal linked to the No. 2 executive in Japan's ruling party.
Investors were also watching the fate of Japan Airlines which will probably file for bankruptcy on Tuesday as part of a state-led restructuring.
Market players speculated the company may have to liquidate some of its dollar-buying derivative contracts or repatriate overseas assets after a potential bankruptcy filing. But the market has not seen such flows so far, traders said.
The dollar rose 0.2 percent to 90.95 yen.
U.S. financial markets will be closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Day.
(Additional reporting by Satomi Noguchi in Tokyo)