* Euro flat as investors eye Thursday's ECB meeting
* Aussie firms after better-than-expected Chinese data
* Upbeat US indicators keep chance of 2015 rate hike alive
By Jemima Kelly
LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The euro traded near a 10-day low against the dollar on Monday, as investors eyed a European Central Bank meeting later in the week at which further stimulus could be announced to boost inflation in the euro zone.
Though most traders and analysts reckon the ECB will wait until its December meeting to announce anything new, they see a risk that additional easing measures could be flagged this Thursday and are betting ECB chief Mario Draghi will at least try to talk the currency down.
Many banks were expecting the euro to fall to parity with the dollar by the end of this year as the ECB pumps 60 billion euros into the economy each month. But since dipping below $1.05 in March, it has gained around 9 percent.
On Monday, it inched down to $1.1340, close to Friday's low of $1.1335, the currency's weakest since October 9.
"Our base is that (the ECB) announces an extension of the asset purchase programme in December, but we see a real risk that they could also go at this meeting, so from an FX perspective we think it certainly makes sense to be short euros heading into the meeting," said BNP Paribas currency strategist Sam Lynton-Brown.
The Australian dollar was the biggest mover in a largely flat currency market, strengthening 0.4 percent against its U.S. counterpart after data from China which, though showing growth falling below 7 percent for the first time since 2009, was slightly better than had been expected.
"We don't really think that rally is going to last," said Lynton-Brown. "Generally risk assets have performed in an environment of the Fed delaying tightening ... but the reason why the Fed is likely to be on hold is due to concerns about external factors."
Against the yen, the dollar was flat at 119.34, having dipped to as low as 119.15 as Tokyo shares opened significantly lower, but it pared its losses as equities regained some of the ground they shed. The safe-haven yen tends to gather bids when domestic equities suffer losses.
"There isn't much in terms of U.S. and Japanese data to trade on this week, so participants will look to the Nikkei for incentive," said Kaneo Ogino, director at foreign exchange research firm Global-info Co in Tokyo.
(Additional reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro in Tokyo; Editing by Tom Heneghan)