RPT-GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks slip, dlr near lows on US woes

                                
 * Asian stocks slip on U.S. worries, Fed official's warning
                                
 * Dlr on defensive, eyes on GDP; hits 8-mth low vs. yen
                                
 * MSCI Asia ex-Japan index up 7 percent in July
                                
 * Focus on U.S. GDP due at 1230 GMT
  (Repeats to more subscribers)
                                
 By Vikram S.Subhedar
                                
 HONG KONG, July 30 (Reuters) - Asian stocks sagged on
Friday as worries U.S. growth data may surprise on the downside
and downbeat comments from a Federal Reserve official gave
investors reason book profits from a steady rally this month.
                                
 European shares were set to open lower for the third
consecutive session, financial bookmakers said, with Britain's
FTSE 100 <.FTSE>, Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> and France's CAC-40
<.FCHI> seen opening down 0.3-0.8 percent.
                                
 The dollar remained near a three-month low against a basket
of currencies <.DXY> ahead of the second-quarter GDP data, due
at 1230 GMT, after a raft of data in the past month undershot
market expectations.
                                
 Asian stocks outside Japan were lower with materials and
technology shares underperforming while consumer discretionary
shares got a boost from Sony Corp's <6758.T> robust results.
[ID:nTOE66T012]
                                
 The MSCI Asia ex-Japan Index <.MIAPJ0000PUS> fell half a
percent. The index is up about 7 percent this month as steady
flows into Asian funds continued through the month.
                                
 "For all the risk on/off talk, I would suggest that risk is
never off, rather it becomes more selective," said Geoff Howie,
Sales and Markets Strategist, MF Global Markets in Singapore.
                                
 "At this juncture risk is being allocated to asset markets
of economies with solid industrialisation trajectories, such as
China and ASEAN; or economies seeing policy normalization, such
as Korea."
                                
 Japan's Nikkei <.N225> closed down 1.6 percent as signs
that the U.S. recovery was faltering outweighed upbeat domestic
earnings.
                                
 "We expect US GDP to slow more sharply than consensus is
calling for, which would confirm concerns over slowdown in the
U.S., possibly adding to risk aversion bets," said Dariusz
Kowalczyk, senior economist and strategist at Credit Agricole
in Hong Kong.
                                
 Economists forecast U.S. growth to have slowed to 2.5
percent in the three months to June from 2.7 percent in the
first quarter. But worries persist it could come in weaker.
[ECI/US] [ID:nN29111411]
                                
 Shares of world's No.1 memory chip maker Samsung Electronic
<005930.SS> closed 2 percent lower on outlook worries after its
warned of weak margins, dragging Seoul shares lower.
[ID:nTOE66T00D]
                                
 Wall Street fell on Thursday after U.S. technology firms
offered glum outlooks, with the Philadelphia semiconductor
index <.SOXX> falling nearly 2 percent.
                                
 Macquarie <MQG.AX>, Australia's top investment bank, joined
global peers in warning weak markets were hurting key
businesses, pulling back from a bullish forecast in April and
sending its shares down as much as 6 percent. [ID:nSGE66R09S]
                                
 U.S. WORRIES
                                
 St. Louis Federal Reserve bank President James Bullard said
on Thursday he is worried about the risks the United States
might fall into a Japan-style quagmire of falling prices and
investment, helping push major U.S. indexes marginally lower.
[ID:nN29267085]
                                
 The dollar fell to an eight-month low against the yen, hurt
by selling from Japanese exporters and concerns about the U.S.
economic recovery. [ID:nTOE66T03P]
                                
 Sluggish jobs growth, marked by a 9.5 percent unemployment
rate, is the biggest obstacle to the economy's recovery from
the most brutal recession since the 1930s.
                                
 U.S. equities have been supported by earnings this month,
according to MF Global, with 74.5 percent of S&P 500 components
that have reported earnings in the United States beating
estimates and only 15 percent posting a negative surprise.
                                
 "Going forward, those positive surprises to second quarter
earnings need to transform into third quarter jobs," said MF
Global's Howie.
                                
 Asia ex-Japan equity funds absorbed more than $1 billion in
the week ending July 28, their biggest inflow in 14 weeks, with
China equity funds enjoying their best since mid-April,
according to data from fund tracking firm EPFR Global.
                                
 U.S. crude <CLc1> prices paused from the previous session's
strong gains and hovered at just about $78 a barrel while gold
<XAU=> edged up but trading was thin in both markets as
investors awaited the release of U.S. second quarter GDP data.
 (Additional reporting by Elaine Lies in TOKYO; Editing by
Kazunori Takada)