RPT-GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia shares subdued, gold supports Aussie dlr

                                
 * Asian shares subdued but underpinned by U.S. retail data
                                
 * Aussie dollar holds gains spurred by gold price rise
                                
 * China shares give up early gains
                                
 * Markets wary ahead of U.S. employment report
 (Repeats to more subscribers)
                                
 By Susan Fenton
                                
 HONG KONG, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Asian shares drifted on
Friday, underpinned by encouraging U.S. retail sales but
cautious ahead of a U.S. payrolls report, while the Aussie
dollar held gains spurred by a spike in gold prices.
                                
 China shares faltered after Thursday's gains, which came
after reassuring remarks from a top securities regulator raised
hopes for policy support for the sagging market. The Shanghai
Composite Index <.SSEC> eased 0.3 percent, after surging 4.8
percent in the previous session.
                                
 Better-than-expected U.S. retail sales helped Asian share
markets generally, after boosting the Dow Jones industrial
average <.DJI> by 0.7 percent, but a rally in gold prices to
nearly $1,000 an ounce indicated investors may be becoming more
risk averse amid a still uncertain global economic environment.
                                
 Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher, in
remarks published during early Asian trade, said the U.S.
economy was set for a long period of slow growth and
unemployment would remain "uncomfortably high" for some time.
[ID:nNYS005381]
                                
 "We are likely to see a prolonged period of sluggish
economic performance and uncomfortably high unemployment as
businesses reallocate capital and labour to fit the new
economic landscape," Fisher said.
                                
 The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> was up 0.5 percent.
                                
 In Japan, the second-biggest brokerage Daiwa Securities
<8601.T> tumbled 5.2 pct on news it plans to buy out Sumitomo
Mitsui Financial Group <8316.T>, the country's third-largest
bank, from their investment banking joint venture
[ID:nBNG447046].
                                
 Daiwa helped push Japan's Nikkei index <.N225> down 0.2
percent, but exporters including electronics parts maker
Kyocera Corp <6971.T>, which was up 1.5 percent, were supported
by the U.S. retail sales data and Japanese capital expenditure
data for April-June, which suggested the worst of the decline
in capex spending may be over [ID:nT235879].
                                
 The Aussie dollar <AUD+> rose to $0.8401 in the wake of
gold's overnight rally to nearly $1,000 an ounce and a rise in
Australian share prices.
                                
 Shares of Australian gold miners benefited from the higher
gold price, helping push Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200
index <.AXJO> up 0.5 percent.
                                
 HYNIX SLUMPS
                                
 Korean stocks <.KS11> fell 1 percent, with Hynix
Semiconductor Inc <000660.KS>, the world's second-largest
memory chip maker, slumping 6.4 percent on a downgrade by
Daewoo Securities.
                                
 As markets awaited U.S. payrolls data for further clues on
the health of the world's biggest economy, financial markets
reflected uncertainty about the global outlook.
                                
 Fisher said it was too early to guess at the timing or pace
of any U.S. interest rate rises.
                                
 The U.S. dollar, though, was quoted at 92.60 yen <JPY=>,
bouncing from a low of 91.92 on Thursday, while the euro <EUR=>
hovered at $1.4252, slipping from a peak of $1.4348 after the
European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold on Thursday
and warned against an early withdrawal of fiscal stimulus
[ID:nL3374378], [ID:L3386083].
                                
  While gold prices flirted with $1,000 an ounce, NYMEX
crude oil <CLc1> edged up to $68.22 a barrel, from just under
$68 in late New York trade.
  (To read a preview of the U.S. employment report, click on
[ID:nN01485399])
  (Editing by Kim Coghill)