SYDNEY, Sept 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar slid against the yen and euro in Asian trade on Monday as talks to rescue Lehman Brothers Holdings faltered, fuelling concerns over the stability of the U.S. financial system and sparking talk of a possible rate cut there.

The yen was the major gainer as investors consider it a safe haven, though trade was thin with Japan on holiday. The dollar sank to 106.19 yen, from 107.86 late on Friday, while the euro dropped to 152.01 yen from 153.43.

Barclays Plc, which had appeared to be frontrunner to take over Lehman, said it had pulled out of the bidding as top bankers and regulators met for a third day to try to resolve the crisis. Meanwhile, Bank of America was in talks to buy Merrill Lynch and insurance giant AIG <AIG.N> was reported to be seeking around $15 billion in extra capital to stave off ratings downgrades.

Bill Gross, head of bond fund Pimco, told Reuters that if Lehman filed for bankruptcy, it could set off a wave of position unwinding around the globe.

"It appears that Lehman will file for bankruptcy and the risk of an immediate tsunami is related to the unwind of derivative and swap-related positions worldwide in the dealer, hedge-fund and buyside universe," Gross said.

Wall Street even arranged a rare emergency trading session on Sunday to allow dealers in the $455 trillion derivatives market to reduce their exposure to Lehman, though turnover was said to have been light.

Analysts said uncertainty was so high that the major central banks might have to step in to soothe market nerves, noting the Federal Reserve was due to hold its policy meeting on Tuesday.

"You have to assume they will be standing by with extra liquidity, though it's hard to know what extra they could do," said Tony Morriss, senior currency strategist at ANZ.

"The Fed may say something reassuring after its meeting and I suppose a rate cut is not out of the question, though unlikely," he added. "Eurodollars should certainly start higher today."

Indeed, three-month Eurodollars were sharply higher across the curve, with the December contract jumping 0.195 to 97.260 and March next year up 0.280 at 97.465.

"In the meantime, everyone will favour the yen and the Swissy, while gains for the euro and sterling suggest the dollar's big rally might have run out of steam," said Morriss.

The dollar eased to 1.1181 Swiss francs from 1.1306 late on Friday, while sterling firmed to $1.8010, from $1.7946.

(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Mark Bendeich)

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