* Euro hits $1.40 after Tues's Fed minutes, Weber comments
* Australian dollar hits highest since free float
* Dollar slides to record low vs Swiss franc (Adds quotes, details, updates prices)
By Wanfeng Zhou
NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar fell against most currencies on Wednesday after minutes from a Federal Reserve meeting released the previous day reinforced expectations of more monetary easing in the United States.
The euro had earlier risen above $1.40 but failed again to hold above it. Analysts said the risk of a near-term correction in euro/dollar is building, even though investors remain in the mode of selling the dollar on any rallies.
Minutes of the Fed's September meeting showed officials thought the struggling U.S. recovery might soon need more help. They discussed ways to provide it, including adopting a price-level target and buying longer-term U.S. government debt.
More Fed easing means more cheap dollars in the market weighing on U.S. rates and eroding the return on dollar-denominated assets.
"With the FOMC minutes validating the market's expectations for stimulus in November, investors have jumped back into the market to sell dollars," said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT in New York.
Some analysts said that the euro's struggle above $1.40 is also a sign that much of the impact from any additional Fed easing has already been priced in, with the market already very short of dollars.
"For investors to sell the U.S. dollar even further and push (euro/dollar) above $1.40, we need to see additional negative U.S. dollar development, which is currently absent," said Matthew Strauss, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto.
In midday trading, the euro rose 0.3 percent to $1.3961, after having hit as high as $1.4002 on trading platform EBS earlier in the global session.
A rally in U.S. stocks also lifted the euro, though it ran into offers ahead of 1.4000, where option hedging has been reported, strategists at Action Economics wrote to clients.
The euro has failed to hold above the $1.40 for the third day in five since hitting an eight-month high of $1.4030 last week. Many analysts noted $1.40 as a key resistance level, which also draws corporate selling interest as companies repatriate their earnings from Europe.
AUSSIE, SWISSIE AT NEW HIGHS
Technical analysts said the risk of a near-term pullback in the euro is increasing, which could push euro/dollar to $1.3690/40, followed by $1.3490, which are the 23.6 percent and 38.2 percent retracement of the euro's move up from September.
A firm break above $1.4025-45 in euro/dollar, particularly a weekly close above $1.4030, could spark further gains, they added.
The market has gone very short of dollars on easing expectations recently and some analysts say this raises the risk of a rebound, particularly if the Fed opts for a much smaller QE program than the $1 trillion in asset purchases some forecast.
"The market has now partially or fully priced in another move by the Fed to essentially lower rates in whatever form that takes," said Tim O'Sullivan, chief dealer at Forex.com in Bedminster, New Jersey. "If the Fed disappoint s... it is possible we could see an unraveling of the euro back down to $1.35s."
The dollar index, which measures its against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.3 percent to 77.117, not far from a nine-month low of 76.906 set last week.
The dollar also eased to a record low of 0.9546 Swiss francs, according to Reuters data.
The Australian dollar climbed to its highest level against the U.S. dollar since it was allowed to float freely in 1983. The Aussie dollar climbed as high as US$0.9929, less than 1 cent from parity, before retreating to US$0.9912, up 0.5 percent on the day.
The dollar was up 0.2 percent at 81.89 yen, supported by nervousness that Japanese authorities could intervene the closer it gets to its record low of 79.75 yen. The dollar hit a 15-year low of 81.37 yen on EBS on Monday. (Editing by Andrew Hay)