REFILE-FOREX-Dollar falls vs euro after ECB cut, jobs data loom

* ECB cuts rates 75 bps, BoE by 100 bps

* Euro rises versus dollar, hits record high versus pound

* Investors await U.S. nonfarm payrolls report Friday

* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on FXNEWS (Recasts, updates prices, adds quotes, changes byline)

By Wanfeng Zhou

NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar fell against the euro on Thursday as some investors lauded the European Central Bank's bolder-than-expected interest rate cut as a proactive step to stave off a deep recession in the 15-nation region.

The ECB, seen by market participants as being behind the curve in lowering borrowing costs to boost growth, made its biggest ever cut, lowering benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points to 2.5 percent. Most economists had expected a smaller, 50 basis point step this month. For more, see [ID:nL4623589].

The British pound also bounced off session lows against the dollar. Earlier, the Bank of England cut its key rate by 100 basis points to 2 percent, the lowest level since 1951, and said further steps would be required to prevent a credit squeeze tipping the economy into deep recession. See [ID:nL4304319].

"The markets are beginning to reward those currencies whose central banks are taking the appropriate policy steps, which means cutting rates," said Ken Landon, global currency strategist at JPMorgan Chase in New York.

"People are focused on future growth and anything that would help boost growth in the future would be probably good for a currency right now."

In late trading in New York, the euro was up 0.5 percent against the dollar at $1.2771, more than two cents from the session low of 1.2550.

The pound was down 0.8 percent at $1.4651 , having earlier touched a more than 6 year low of $1.4471. The pound hit a record low against the euro at 87.25 pence. .

"The market has given the euro the benefit of the doubt, as the ECB cut about as aggressively as they could have reasonably been expected to," said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at The Bank of New York Mellon in New York.

"Whereas rate cuts normally undermine a currency, right now we're seeing something of an alleviation of uncertainty about the European economy."

The yen rose sharply, as falling stock prices and persistent worries about a deepening global economic downturn prompted investors to keep unwinding riskier positions.