* Asian stocks weak ahead of U.S. non-farm payrolls data
* Aussie dollar gets brief lift from upbeat c.bank statement
* Sterling stable after plunging on shock BoE pump priming
By Susan Fenton
HONG KONG, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Asian stocks dipped on Friday as investors nervously awaited a key U.S. jobs report, while the Australian dollar got only a brief lift despite signals from the central bank that interest rates could rise over time.
U.S. President Barack Obama told a crowd in Virginia that he saw the "very beginnings" of the end of recession but investors wanted to see all-important U.S. non-farm payrolls data later for firmer evidence the world's biggest economy has turned the corner.
Major European stock futures were down 0.4 percent while U.S. equity futures were up 0.04 percent.
Australia's central bank indicated it could pre-empt the world and raise interest rates if its economy continues to improve, giving the the Aussie dollar a brief boost.
"Among industrial nations Australia has higher interest rates. A view that its economy will benefit from demand from China, whose economy is supported by stimulus measures, is making investors tend to flock to the Aussie," said Ayako Sera, a market strategist at Sumitomo Trust & Banking in Tokyo.
Corporate earnings' reports out of Asia continued to highlight the impact of global recession and Japanese consumer electronics maker Pioneer Corp saw its shares dive more than 5 percent at one stage in Tokyo after posting a quarterly loss.
Japan's Nikkei share index managed to eke out a 0.2 percent gain though, its highest close in 10 months.
Airlines did better than some sectors in the region. Japan Airlines announced a first-quarter loss but its shares slipped just 0.6 percent. Malaysia Airlines' shares jumped more than 7 percent at one point as the carrier returned to profit in the second quarter.
FOREIGN BUYING
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan was down 0.9 percent by midafternoon, but has rallied around 77 percent since a rebound in global equities began on March 9.
A string of improved economic data in the region in the past week has lifted risk appetite but investors are not convinced yet that an economic upturn is sustainable.
Shares in Seoul rose 0.7 percent but the mood was cautious.
"Continued foreign buying is helping markets today," said Lee Kyung-soo, a market analyst at Shinyoung Securities in Seoul. "But there are concerns whether corporate earnings growth in the third quarter would be as strong as that seen in the second."
For further evidence of a global recovery, investors are turning their focus to U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, which is forecast to show 320,000 jobs were lost in July compared with a loss of 467,000 jobs in June.
Concern that China could rein in easy money continued to weigh on shares in China and Hong Kong where the Hang Seng Index was down 1.4 percent. But China Mobile extended Thursday's gains, rising nearly 3 percent, on reports the world's biggest telecom operator was going ahead with a Shanghai listing.
Taiwan markets were closed due to a typhoon.
In the currency markets, sterling stabilised against the U.S. dollar after plunging on the Bank of England's shock announcement on Thursday that it was expanding its quantitative easing plan as Britain's downturn appeared to have been deeper than previously thought.
Metals prices retreated for a second day, helping push down Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 share index by 1 percent, as shares in mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both dropped more than 2 percent.
Copper prices have doubled this year, thanks to Chinese demand, but they could quickly lose momentum if data suggests a global economic recovery may take longer than hoped, analysts said. Shanghai's benchmark copper prices fell 2 percent while Malaysian tin fell 2.6 percent following steep losses on the London Metal Exchange.
Oil prices retreated after reaching six-week highs on Thursday. (Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo and Jungyoun Park in Seoul) (Editing by Kazunori Takada)