* Dollar index rises to fresh 7-month highs on Fed-hike bets
* Euro pressured by rising expectations of ECB easing
* Speculators increase dollar-long positions-IMM
By Lisa Twaronite
TOKYO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The dollar rose to seven-month highs in Asian trading on Tuesday, as investors turned their focus from the Paris attacks to growing expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve is poised to hike interest rates next month.
The dollar index .DXY , which tracks the U.S. currency against six major rivals, added 0.2 percent to 99.534, after setting a fresh seven-month high of 99.584, breaking above highs marked last week on surprisingly robust U.S. jobs data.
U.S. consumer price data scheduled for later this session is expected to provide more to whether the U.S. central bank will raise interest rates as early as next month, which would be the first official hike in borrowing costs in nearly a decade.
The euro EUR= slipped 0.2 percent to $1.0663, after earlier brushing a nearly 7-month low of $1.0659.
In sharp contrast with the Fed, the European Central Bank is considered very likely to take further quantitative easing (QE) steps next month.
"It looks like the direct impact, at least on sentiment, from the Paris attacks has faded," said Sue Trinh, a strategist with RBC Capital Markets in Sydney.
"In terms of FX price action, we've reverted to the trend that was in place before the weekend's terrible events, which is euro underperforming into the December ECB on expectations of increased QE."
A Reuters poll of traders on Monday showed that most expected the ECB to diversify the 60 billion euros a month of mostly government bonds it has been buying since March to include municipal bonds.
"Disappointment by the ECB at this stage would be tantamount to solidifying expectations at current levels for growth and inflation, a trap we fully expect them to avoid," Richard Cochinos, head of European G10 FX strategy at Citigroup (N:C), said in a note.
The latest data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, released on Monday due to last week's U.S. Veteran's Day holiday, showed that investors boosted their dollar bets in the week ended Nov. 10 to the highest levels since mid-August.
The dollar added about 0.2 percent to 123.37 yen JPY= , moving back within sight of its post-payrolls high of 123.60 and away from the previous session's one-week low of 122.23, as investor risk aversion faded. The yen is traditionally a safe-haven currency, and it had gained after the Paris attacks.
The New Zealand dollar NZD=D4 shed about 0.5 percent to$0.6462, having broken key support around 65 cents, ahead of a global dairy auction on Wednesday.
New Zealand's near-term inflation expectations rose in the fourth quarter, a survey showed on Tuesday, and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is regarded as likely to cut interest rates at its next policy review in December.
Its Australian counterpart edged down 0.1 percent to $0.7087, but remained underpinned by the Reserve Bank of Australia minutes.
According to the minutes of its Nov. 3 policy review released on Tuesday, Australia's central bank said a subdued inflation outlook meant there was scope to ease monetary policy further if needed, but policymakers appeared to set a high bar for such a move.
(Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Eric Meijer)