LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - The yen fell on Monday to near eight-month lows against the dollar as investors said intervention was in sight, while the euro weakened after a slowdown in factory activity in China and the euro zone renewed economic growth fears. The dollar edged up ahead of the July 4 holiday after U.S. economic data last week showed slightly easing inflation and consumer spending. The yen weakened 0.37% to 144.86, after it touched its lowest level against the greenback since November on Friday. Euro zone manufacturing activity contracted faster than initially thought in June as persistent policy tightening by the European Central Bank squeezed finances, a survey showed on Monday, painting an increasingly gloomy outlook for industry. "Investors have commented that the euro zone cyclical story is losing momentum, and this is why the euro should be lower," HSBC's Mackel said adding that the euro is, however, holding up relatively well.

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Persons: Shunichi Suzuki, Paul Mackel, HSBC's Mackel, Joice Alves, Ankur Banerjee, David Evans, Conor Humprhies Organizations: Finance, FX Research, HSBC, Japan, Bank of Japan, European Central Bank, U.S, U.S . Federal, Citi, Labor, Survey, Thomson Locations: China, Japan, U.S ., U.S, United States, London, Singapore