* Sharp, Samsung results reflect consumer weakness
* Dollar slides vs yen but broadly focus remains on Fed
* What will U.S. GDP mean for Fed expections?
By Kevin Plumberg
HONG KONG, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Asian stocks slipped on Friday,
led by Japan, on signs of sluggish consumer electronics demand,
while the bruised dollar steadied, with dealers focused on how
upcoming economic data would impact views on a Federal Reserve
meeting next week.
Many asset markets have hardly moved this week, but the
modest price action belies the tense jostling for positioning
ahead of a storm of events and economic data next week that could
cause volatility to spike and determine investors' tolerance of
risk, including potential new bond purchases by the Fed.
U.S. gross domestic data for the third quarter is due later
in the day, though it will probably be viewed as an indicator of
just how much QE2, a new Fed money-printing program, will be -- a
question that has consumed traders and investors for the past two
months.
GDP growth is expected to come in at 2 percent on an
annualised basis, a Reuters poll showed.
"While such acceleration of growth would make QE2 seem less
urgent on the surface, core PCE price data will be more
important, and if it shows a slowdown, the market will likely
increase expectations of the amount of Treasuries the Fed will
buy," Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior strategist with Credit Agricole
CIB in Hong Kong, said in a note.
Until the outcome of the Fed meeting, investors were finding
fewer reasons to hold on to equities.
Japan's Nikkei share average <> fell 1.8 percent to a
1-month low as the yen strengthened broadly and equity futures
were sold aggressively.
Electronics makers were under fire after Sharp Corp <6753.T>,
whose shares were down 5.6 percent, cut its full-year earnings
forecast on reduced demand for flat-screen televisions.
A drop in demand for consumer electronics also stung Samsung
Electronics Co <005930.KS>, which saw its stock fall 1.8 percent
after the world's top producer of TVs and flat screens said a
supply glut will weigh on memory chip prices and LCD prices will
keep falling in coming months. []
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan slipped
0.3 percent <.MIAPJ0000PUS>, though remained in a narrow range
carved out this month.
A common reason cited by electronics exporters for their grim
outlooks is domestic currency appreciation, a subject that will
dominate a Group of 20 leaders meeting next month.
The dollar fell 0.4 percent against the yen <JPY=>, the
result mostly of spillover from Japanese currency strength
against other currencies.
The euro slipped 0.2 percent to $1.3901 <EUR=> after a 1.2
percent jump overnight. The euro had trouble breaking above a
technical obstacle around $1.3950, leading some traders to take
profits.
The dollar index <=USD>, a measure of the its performance
against a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.2
percent on the day and basically flat on the week.
The index is down 6.3 percent since September, when
expectations grew the Fed would embark on a path to quantitative
easing, basically printing money to buy assets and flood the
financial system with cash.
Commodities prices, which have been moving tightly in the
opposite direction of the dollar for the past few months, were
generally under pressure as the dollar held its ground on a broad
basis.
Gold was down 0.2 percent to $1,340.50 on ounce <XAU=>,
having now slid 2 percent since hitting a record high two weeks
ago.
Oil futures were down 0.3 percent to $81.91 a barrel <CLc1>,
still up $10 since September.
"We still think the U.S. dollar is going to come under severe
pressure, so we'll see strengthening commodities prices and that
should help our miners," said Patersons Securities dealer Martin
Angel in Australia.
(Additional reporting by Victoria Thieberger in MELBOURNE;
Editing by David Fox)
