AlQa'dah 22, 1433, Oct 8, 2012, SPA - Asian stocks and other riskier assets such as commodities fell on Monday as the World Bank cut its growth forecasts for East Asia, underlining concerns over the global economic outlook, and caution set in about the coming corporate earnings season, Reuters reported. European index futures also slipped, leaving markets there poised to give up some of last week's gains. Wall Street stocks dipped late on Friday as an unexpected drop in the U.S. unemployment rate was overshadowed by worries about the earnings season, which kicks off with Alcoa Inc on Tuesday, and S&P 500 futures traded in Asia eased on Monday. "It (the jobs number) looks good if you were worried about an imminent collapse back into recession or if you had performed badly in a presidential debate," said Russell Jones, global interest rates strategist at Westpac bank in Sydney, in a note. "But the reality is that it remains consistent with a U.S. economy growing around or a little below trend, no more." S&P 500 earnings for the third quarter are forecast to have fallen 2.4 percent from the year-earlier period, which would be the first decline in three years, according to Thomson Reuters data. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.9 percent. Japanese financial markets were closed for a public holiday. Euro STOXX 50 index futures opened down 0.8 percent, while financial bookmakers called London's FTSE 100 down around 0.5 percent.
