(Corrects incorrectly named Eurozone PMI in fourth paragraph)
* USD off lows but wobbly as market braces for political events
* Dollar fares better against Aussie, loonie after oil slide
By Shinichi Saoshiro
TOKYO, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The dollar wobbled against the yen and euro on early on Monday, cautiously held in a narrow range ahead of the impending first debate between U.S. presidential candidates that could determine the currency's near-term direction.
The greenback was off lows versus the yen and euro touched late last week after long-term rate hike expectations were tempered following the Sept. 20-21 Federal Reserve policy meeting, but it remained on shaky ground as market focus shifted from monetary to political risk.
The dollar was down 0.2 percent at 100.800 yen JPY= . It saw a one-month low of 100.100 on Thursday before pulling back to as high as 101.250 towards the end of last week.
The euro nudged up 0.1 percent to $1.1238 EUR= , adding to Friday's modest gains made after the release of a relatively upbeat euro zone purchasing managers' index (PMI). The common currency briefly rose to as high as $1.1258 on Thursday.
The market awaited the debate between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, the first of three face-to-face contests, to be held at 0100 GMT on Tuesday.
"If the debate ends in favour of Trump and adds to his support, we may see dollar/yen slip on risk aversion. Trump has strongly backed a weaker dollar, which is likely to retreat particularly against the yen if he is seen to have taken the lead," said Shin Kadota, chief Japan FX strategist at Barclays (LON:BARC) in Tokyo.
The dollar, on the other hand, fared better against the Australian and Canadian dollars as a slide in oil prices weighed on the commodity-linked currencies.
The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.7622 AUD=D4 after losing about 0.25 percent on Friday. The Canadian dollar was also steady at C$1.3152 to the dollar CAD=D4 after sliding sharply on Friday from a peak around C$1.3000.
Sterling crawled up 0.1 percent to $1.2980 GBP=D4 , posting a small bounce after dropping 0.9 percent on Friday, when it touched a five-week low near $1.2900 on worries over Britain's exit from the European Union.