Asian shares ease as growth fears persist

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian shares mostly slipped on Monday and the safe-haven dollar rose as concerns about faltering global growth and Europe's intractable debt crisis continued to sap investor confidence, but Japanese stocks were supported by a weaker yen.

The euro fell, despite moves late last week to ease funding strains on the euro zone banking system, as markets remained unconvinced that a European Union summit on Thursday and Friday will make substantial progress towards resolving the crisis.

Analysts at Barclays Capital expect the summit will yield more strong rhetoric in support of a roadmap towards tighter fiscal integration, rather than a definitive solution.

"This may disappoint markets to some extent. We prefer remaining long USD over the week especially against European currencies," they wrote in a note.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.4 percent, with South Korean shares losing more than 1 percent. Tokyo's Nikkei share average bucked the trend to rise 0.2 percent, as Japan's exporters were supported by the weaker currency.

U.S. stocks had rebounded more than 0.5 percent on Friday, but Wall Street index futures were trading down around 0.4 percent, suggesting the gains may be short-lived.

Investors worry that Europe's debt crisis is adding to the slowdown in global economic growth, especially after a flurry of data last Thursday showing weakness in global manufacturing.

The euro slipped around 0.3 percent to about $1.2534, while the dollar rose around 0.2 percent against a basket of major currencies .

Industrial commodities, which fell sharply last week on global growth fears, were steady, with Brent crude oil flat at $91 a barrel and copper firming a touch to around $7,315 a ton.

(Additional reporting by Ian Chua in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry)