* U.S. GDP, weekly jobless claims disappoint investors
* Japanese banks slide on domestic worries
* Oil retreats, pressured by bearish U.S. economic data
By Tom Miles
HONG KONG, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Asian investors balked at ugly
U.S. economic data and a grim outlook for Japanese banks,
causing stocks to sag and safe-haven bonds to perk up on
Friday, while oil fell further after its biggest monthly drop
since 2004.
A surprise jump in U.S. weekly jobless claims, weaker than
expected second-quarter gross domestic product numbers and a
shock revision of data that showed the U.S. economy shrank in
the final quarter of 2007 undermined the dollar, oil prices and
hopes for a speedy recovery.
The triple whammy of sour data, plus a quarterly earnings
result from Exxon Mobil <XOM.N> that fell short of expectations
[], drove the Dow Jones industrial average <>
down 1.8 percent on Thursday.
Asian shares followed suit on Friday, with Tokyo's stock
market troubled by the performance of Japanese banks after
sharp declines in first-quarter profitability at Mizuho
Financial Group <8411.T> and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group
<8316.T>.
"While everyone has been worried about the subprime, it has
become clear that the problem for Japanese banks is not the
subprime, but everything else," said Nana Otsuki, banking
analyst at UBS Securities in Tokyo, after the banks reported on
Thursday.
Tumbling profits also hit electronics makers NEC Corp
<6701.T> and TDK Corp <6762.T>, contributing to a 2.2 percent
drop in the Nikkei index <> by 0230 GMT.
Investors were also cautious ahead of a U.S. July
employment report later on Friday.
"Investors are reluctant to buy shares ahead of U.S.
economic events," said Mitsuo Shimizu, deputy general manager
of equity department at Cosmo Securities.
MSCI's index of Asia stocks outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS>
sagged 1.5 percent.
Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 index <> fell 1.6 percent.
General insurer and bank Suncorp Ltd <SUN.AX> led the decline,
plunging as much as 18.5 percent and setting it up for its
biggest one-day fall on record, after it warned on 2008
profits.
The flight from equities into safe-haven securities sent
the yield on 10-year Japanese Government Bonds <JP10YTN=JBTC>
to a three-month low of 1.505 percent on Friday, although trade
remained relatively light ahead of U.S. data.
OIL CHECKS DOLLAR SLIDE
Equities took little heart from a continuing sell-off in
oil, normally a sign of cheaper fuel for energy-hungry
companies.
U.S. crude oil fell 0.7 percent to $123.25 a barrel <CLc1>
in early Asian trade, after falling more than 2 percent on
Thursday, capping the market's worst month in more than three
years, as the weak U.S. data reinforced worries about shrinking
demand in the world's top energy consumer.
Demand worries have pulled oil down from a record above
$147 a barrel hit on July 11, the peak of a six-year rally set
in motion by an Asian economic boom. Oil's 11.4 percent loss
for the month of July marked the biggest monthly loss in
percentage terms since December 2004.
The fall in oil contributed to the steepest monthly drop in
28 years for the Reuters-Jefferies CRB <.CRB> commodities
index, which lost 10 percent in July, the biggest drop since it
fell 10.5 percent in March 1980. The index had gained almost 20
percent in the April-June quarter.
The latest fall in oil helped halt a slide in the U.S.
dollar, which retreated against the yen <JPY=> on Thursday.
The wait-and-see mood held sway over the market ahead of
the U.S. payrolls release later on Friday, with the dollar
little changed from late U.S. trade near 107.80 yen <JPY=>
after hitting a one-month peak of about 108.34 yen on
Wednesday.
"The dollar proved surprisingly resilient despite
Thursday's downbeat data," said Motonari Ogawa, director of
forex trading at Barclays Bank in Japan.
"No doubt the jobs data will generate a host of opinions,
but the market is likely waiting for a surprise -- whether be
it an upside or a downside -- as the next catalyst," said
Ogawa.
The euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.5565 <EUR=>. Traders said a
recent string of weak European data was weakening the euro
against the yen in Asian trade and undermining the euro versus
other currencies.
(Additional reporting by Masayuki Kitano, David Dolan and
Shinichi Saoshiro in TOKYO)
