Euro hits fresh 2-陆 month low vs dollar

* Euro hits fresh 2-½ mth low vs dlr on regional bank fears

* Yen buying on risk aversion may wane on Japan political woes

* U.S. auto restructuring plans fail to move market

By Kaori Kaneko

TOKYO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The euro hit a fresh 2-½ month low against the dollar on Wednesday after warnings from ratings agencies fuelled fear that a deep recession in Eastern Europe would cause more damage to European banks.

Moody's Investors Service threatened to downgrade euro zone banks with significant exposure to the weakening economies in Eastern and Central Europe and Standard&Poor's also said it may review emerging Europe bank ratings.

"With growing credit concerns in Europe, investors seem to be continuing to unwind their positions and securing cash in dollars," said Saburo Matsumoto, senior manager at Sumitomo Trust Banking.

The euro fell as low as $1.2558, its lowest since Dec. 4 although it later edged up 0.1 percent from late U.S. trade on Tuesday to $1.2595.

The euro was little changed at 116.18 yen.

Currency market players said they were watching how Asian stock markets would perform but falls may not prompt yen purchases on risk aversion as much as they have done in the past due to concerns about Japanese political turmoil and the weakening Japanese economy.

Tokyo's Nikkei share average fell 1.6 percent.

Japan's finance minister resigned on Tuesday after being forced to deny he was drunk at a G7 news conference, although the move may be too late to save unpopular Prime Minister Taro Aso or the long-ruling party from voters' wrath.

The dollar fell 0.2 percent to 92.22 after it rose to a more than one-month high of 92.75 yen on Tuesday.

The market showed little reaction to restructuring plans submitted by U.S. auto giants as they yielded no surprises, traders said.

General Motors Corp requested up to $30 billion more and Chrysler LLC asked another $5 billion from U.S. government aid for their survival. (Editing by Edwina Gibbs)