* Asian stocks slip to 3-week low, await Q3 earnings
* USD still under pressure after soft jobs data, G7 meeting
* Caution on commodities; crude below $70
(Adds European outlook, updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lincoln Feast
SINGAPORE, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Asian stocks fell to a
three-week low on Monday as soft U.S. jobs data heightened
investor caution ahead of the third-quarter corporate results
season, while speculation of an early interest rate hike
boosted the Australian dollar.
The U.S. dollar lost ground, drawing scant support from a
weekend meeting of G7 ministers, and crude oil prices <CLc1>
held below $70 a barrel as the weak data showed the pace and
scope of economic recovery remained uncertain.
U.S. employers cut 263,000 jobs in September, more than in
August and the 21st straight monthly decline, Labour Department
data on Friday showed. []
European shares, which ended at a four-week closing low on
Friday after the U.S. data, were set for a largely steady start
on Monday, helped by a survey showing British finance firms
reported their first growth spell in two years in the last
quarter. []
Investors, banking on a solid bounce from the world's worst
economic crisis since the Great Depression, had pushed MSCI's
All Country World index <.MIWD00000PUS> to a 12-month high
earlier this month, up as much as 70 percent from its March
low.
"While the (U.S. jobs) data was bad and optimism about the
U.S. economy may have receded, I do not think market players
think that this means that the outlook for the U.S. economy is
ruined," said Hideyuki Ishiguro, supervisor at Okasan
Securities' investment strategy department in Japan.
"I think it just means market sentiment has returned to
neutral for the time being," Ishiguro added.
Investors were also wary ahead of the start of the
third-quarter corporate earnings season, which kicks off in the
United States this week. Cost cutting helped second-quarter
results largely beat expectations, but analysts are now looking
for more sustainable signs of improving revenues.
Tokyo's Nikkei average <> ended down 0.6 percent at
its lowest close in 11 weeks, with exporters leading declines
on worries about U.S. demand.
MSCI's index of stocks elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific
<.MSCIAPJ> fell 0.4 percent by 0605 GMT, touching its lowest
since Sept. 16.
South Korea <> stocks fared worst, sliding 2.2
percent, while Taiwan <> outperformed, rising 0.1 percent.
Shanghai markets <> were closed for a holiday.
DOLLAR SOFT
With growing jobless numbers putting further pressure on
consumer spending, U.S. interest rates were expected to remain
low for the foreseeable future, weighing on the U.S. dollar.
In contrast, the Australian dollar <AUD=> rose ahead of a
meeting of the Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday after two
influential columnists wrote that there was a real chance of an
interest rate rise this week, sooner than many have been
expecting. []
"We don't see the urgency for a move and still think
they'll wait, but it sounds like it could be a close call,"
said Annette Beacher, a senior strategist at TD Securities in
Singapore.
The Aussie <AUD=D4> traded around $0.8740, recouping most
of Friday's sharp losses.
The dollar index <.DXY>, a measure of its performance
against six major currencies, fell 0.3 percent, while the euro
climbed to $1.4634 <EUR=> after ending at around $1.4575 on
Friday.
The greenback, down 14 percent from its March high, got no
fresh support from the Group of Seven finance ministers and
central bankers. After a weekend meeting in Istanbul, they
broke no new ground on currencies, urging China to strengthen
the yuan to help correct global imbalances and saying too much
foreign exchange volatility tended to threaten economic
stability. []
CAUTION ON COMMODITIES
Commodity markets tracked equities, as they have for much
of the year.
"The market is cautious after the poor U.S. jobs data on
Friday. But the overall trend of an economic recovery hasn't
changed and I think investors are using such
weaker-than-expected data as an opportunity to take profits,"
said Ben Westmore, a commodities analyst at the National Bank
of Australia.
U.S. light sweet crude was 5 cents weaker at $69.90, while
three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange <MCU3> rose $16
to $5,895 a tonne, bouncing from a two-month low on the back of
a weaker dollar.
Doubts about economic recovery and profit-taking on riskier
assets has boosted government bonds in recent sessions but
looming supplies in the United States and Japan stalled the
advance on Monday.
December 10-year Japanese government bond futures <2JGBv1>
dipped 0.11 point to 139.50 as market players sold to hedge for
a 2.1 trillion yen ($23.4 billion) 10-year auction on Tuesday.
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