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 <.MIAPJ0000PUS> 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. <.T>

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. <.N>

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 <.DXY>.

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)