* Yen rallies to 5-wk high vs dollar
* Stock markets extend slide, keeping risk aversion intact
* Aussie falls after RBA cuts rates by 100 basis points
(recasts, changes dateline, byline, adds quotes, updates prices; PVS Toyko)
By Veronica Brown
LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The yen rallied to a five-week high versus the dollar on Tuesday as stumbling world stock markets reflected continued wariness towards risk as investors ponder the extent of the global slowdown.
An unexpectedly bold 100 basis point cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia kept the Australian dollar under pressure, with a strong hint of more cuts to come as central banks around the world race to revive flagging economies.
Markets got official confirmation on the state of U.S. economic health late on Monday, when the National Bureau of Economic Research's business cycle dating committee said the economy slipped into recession in December 2007.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy remained under considerable strain, and that the central bank had alternative tools it could employ as interest rates approach zero.
European shares got off to a shaky start, in tandem with Asia, after deep losses seen in the United States overnight when the Dow Jones industrial average dropped almost 8 percent.
Traders said U.S. stocks extended losses on reports that Goldman Sachs is likely to report net losses of as much as $2 billion for its latest quarter.
"It's risk, risk appetite and risk aversion that are the drivers," Rabobank strategist Jeremy Stretch said.
"If we see another round of equity capitulation as we saw yesterday -- paced in part by the aggressive pullback in the global PMI indices -- its a case of following the current (yen buying) trend," he added.
By 0854 GMT, the dollar had fallen 0.4 percent to 92.84 yen, having earlier hit a five-week trough of 92.64, according to Reuters data, while the euro was down 0.4 percent at 117.25 yen .
Yen crosses also felt the strain of the low-yielding Japanese unit's rally, with sterling/yen, Australian dollar/yen and New Zealand dollar/yen all down sharply.
The euro dropped 0.4 percent versus the dollar to $1.2575, while sterling fell 0.6 percent $1.4792.
BOLD RBA CUT
The Australian dollar fell after the Australian central bank lowered interest rates by an unexpected 100 basis points to 4.25 percent -- bringing the easing since September to 3 percentage points.
Explaining the move, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens noted the perilous state of the global economy and suggested there could be more cuts.
The futures market is already well ahead of him, pricing in swinging cuts to near 3.0 percent next year, depths that have not been seen in money markets since the early 1960s.
The Australian dollar was down 0.3 percent at $0.6380, trimming earlier losses. It had briefly rebounded above $0.64 just after the decision.
Monetary policy focus remains with The Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, with rate verdicts all due this week.
The Bank of Japan held an emergency policy meeting on Tuesday and announced the central bank will accept wider range of corporate debt as collateral in money market operations to help ease a squeeze in credit markets.
The BOJ held interest rates steady as expected at the meeting.
(Reporting by Veronica Brown; Editing by Victoria Main)