By Wanfeng Zhou NEW YORK, Dec 23 (Reuters) - The euro fell to a three-week low against t he dollar on Thursday amid persistent concern about debt troubles in Europe, though analysts said strong technical support levels could limit near-term downside. The euro earlier fell to around $1.3050, below its 200-day moving average currently located at $1.3092 on trading platform EBS. Investors have pushed the euro beneath this key support level for the past three sessions, only to see the currency bounce back later in the day. Analysts said the euro will likely hold above $1.30 in the coming days, with traders reluctant to place big bets before year-end. The outlook for the single currency remains shaky, with fresh losses expected into 2011, they added. The Swiss franc weakened broadly as investors booked profits on a rally had seen the Swiss currency hit record highs versus the euro for six consecutive days. The euro zone debt crisis has prompted investors to flock to the safe-haven Swiss franc in recent weeks. U.S. economic data showing a small drop in weekly jobless claims and a smaller-than-expected rise in consumer spending had little impact on the dollar. With liquidity thinning ahead of year-end, traders said flows were having a bigger impact on price than fundamentals. 'We are looking for euro/dollar stability above 1.30 moving in to the end of the year,' said Sacha Tihanyi, currency strategist at Scotia Capital in Toronto. 'With the late November and early December tests at that level, and the subsequent failure of euro/dollar to sustainably break below, I'd say that 1.30 looks like strong support,' he added. In early trading, the euro was down 0.3 percent at $1.3066 , after having dropped as low as $1.3055 on EBS, and was on track for a weekly loss of about 0.9 percent. The euro had earlier risen after a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said China was willing to help countries in the euro zone return to economic health and would support the International Monetary Fund bailout package for the bloc. For more, see On Wednesday, the Jornal de Negocios daily reported that China was looking to buy between 4 and 5 billion euros of Portuguese sovereign debt to help the country ward off pressure in bond markets. 'To have any discernible effect China will have to buy a lot more than 5 billion euros if they expect to have any impact on the negative sentiment surrounding Europe,' said Michael Hewson, currency analyst at CMC Markets. The euro was up 0.8 percent at 1.2560 Swiss francs , after hitting an all-time low of 1.2440 on trading platform EBS on Wednesday. 'As long as there are periphery concerns in the euro zone, a lower euro/Swiss is very hard to fight,' Lignos said. A North Korean minister saying his country was prepared to wage a 'holy war' against the South using its nuclear deterrent had no discernible impact on major currencies. The dollar fell 0.6 percent to 83.06 yen in thinned trade with Tokyo closed for a national holiday and ahead of the Christmas holidays in the United States and Europe. Support at the top of the Ichimoku cloud gave way in Europe at 83.08 yen. The base of the cloud was seen as the next support, at 82.07 yen. Bids were seen around 82.80 yen. (Additional reporting by Neal Armstrong in London; Editing by

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