Asia dips as commodities drop on China woes, euro sags

By Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian equities dipped early on Tuesday after commodity prices slid in wake of China growth woes and dampened risk sentiment, while the euro hovered near a 10-day low ahead of a European Central Bank meeting that could open the door for more monetary easing.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.3 percent. Australian stocks <.AXJO> lost 0.2 percent as worries about China weighed on mining and energy stocks following Monday's China GDP data.

"The official GDP figures (released on Monday) show growth slowed to 6.9% y/y in Q3, down from 7.0% y/y in both Q1 and Q2. Unfortunately, these figures need to be taken with a pinch of salt," economists at Capita Economics wrote.

"Flaws with how the GDP deflator is calculated, along with political pressure to meet growth targets that have become increasingly at risk, have meant that official growth rates have not slowed as quickly as most third party measures of growth in recent years."

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was 1.5 percent down at $5,206 a tonne, while Brent crude oil sank 3 percent overnight as the China GDP added to concerns towards the world's second large economy.

The slide in crude weighed on commodity currencies such as the Canadian dollar, which faced extra pressure as voters in Canada appeared set to elect a candidate as prime minister who plans to run deficits to increase infrastructure spending.

The loonie stood little changed at C$1.3024 to the dollar after slumping 0.9 percent overnight.

Elsewhere in currencies, the euro struggled as investors braced for the ECB potentially flagging additional easing measures when its policymakers meet on Thursday.

The common currency was little changed at $1.1327 after reaching a 10-day trough of $1.1306.

The dollar was nearly flat at 119.54 yen while the dollar index also held steady at 94.942 after a 0.2 percent gain overnight.

Following a 2-day surge, the S&P 500 and the Dow ended nearly flat on Monday as advances in top tech and biotech names were offset by caution at the start of a heavy week of earnings. [.N]

(Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Eric Meijer)