RPT-MONEY MARKETS-Rates in broad decline on euro zone worries

* China bill yields fall after auction

* Korean swaps ignore inflation data

HONG KONG, Feb 9 - Asian money market rates broadly fell on Tuesday as worries that fiscal uncertainties in the euro zone could derail the global economic recovery hurt investor appetite for risky assets.

New Zealand overnight indexed rates <NZDIRS> fell 3 basis points for the 1-year contract to 3.40 percent and by 5 basis points to 5.18 percent for the 5-year tenure.

"The move is tied to global rates continuing to rally with the ongoing uncertainties and concerns," said Khoon Goh, senior markets economist, ANZ-National Bank.

A speech by Prime Minister John Key in which he said tax reform would be part of this year's budget had little impact.

In China, bill yields fell after the central bank kept the yield on its one-year bills steady at 1.9264 percent for a fourth weekly auction in a row in its regular operations on Tuesday, after letting it rise 16 basis points from the start of the year.

The one-year central bank bill yield <CN1YNFIX=R> in the secondary market fell to a one-month low of 2.0091 percent bid on Tuesday from 2.0100 percent on Monday.

Analysts said the central bank is pausing its monetary policy tightening ahead of next week's Lunar New Year holiday and the hawkish stance would return after the break.

"The easing of market operations does not point to a change in their monetary stance," said Frances Cheung, rates analyst with Standard Chartered Bank.

"We are calling for two policy rate hikes one in Q1 and the other in April," she said.

But she added the market was pricing in more aggressive rate hikes and there could be an opportunity to receive rates for the one and two year segments.

For a graphic on China inflation and money supply, click: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/0210/CN_M2CPI0210.gif

In South Korea, swap rates fell as a jump in producer prices failed to alter views the central bank would keep rates steady on Thursday. [ID:nTOE618029]

One-year interest rate swaps <KRWIRS> fell 2 basis points to 3.37 percent and the cross-currency basis in won, the difference between the interest rate and cross currency swaps remained steady as dollar/won swaps also fell.

"With the government continuing to put pressure on the BoK to keep an accommodative policy, the BoK is seen as likely to keep rates steady and maintain the same dovish message on Thursday," said a client note from Royal Bank of Scotland.

One-year dollar-won cross-currency swaps were 2 bps lower at 1.08 percent.

The basis, an approximate gauge of returns for foreigners swapping dollars to invest in Korean bonds, was steady at 2.28 percent. It has risen from around 2 percent at the start of the month.