HONG KONG, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Asian stocks crept higher on Friday as merger talk boosted mining shares, but the Nikkei fell and the dollar hovered near one-month lows amid growing caution ahead of the influential U.S. jobs report.

Investors in Europe were also seen taking no chances before the data and financial bookmakers expect major markets in London, Frankfurt and Paris to open flat to weaker.

Spot gold stepped back from a 16-month high hit on Thursday, but remained underpinned by strong demand, while oil hovered above $76 a barrel on rising tensions between Syria and Israel and after a drop in U.S. fuel inventories.

Investors were seen reluctant to take big positions ahead of the August U.S. non-farm payrolls data, with the focus on how much the housing and credit market turmoil may have damaged the U.S. economy, a top destination for Asian goods.

The non-farm payrolls report is expected to show a rise of 110,000 jobs in August and a steady jobless rate of 4.6 percent.

On Thursday, fresh signs of home loan troubles emerged after a report showed a record percentage of American homes had entered foreclosure in the second quarter, but data on the service sector and retail sales last month pointed to surprising strength still in the world's biggest economy.

By 0622 GMT, MSCI's measure of Asia Pacific stocks excluding Japan had inched up 0.1 percent, following Thursday's 0.6 percent rise.

But Tokyo's Nikkei again underperformed, slipping 0.8 percent as continuing concerns about a global credit squeeze weighed on bank issues such as Mizuho Financial Group

"There is still concern about the economy, especially in the United States, with attention on what's happening with consumption, and this has made the Tokyo market quite nervous," said Takahiko Murai, general manager of equities at Nozomi Securities.

"Trade is going to lack direction until we see those numbers and institutional investors really aren't taking an active part in things today."

Among other markets in the region, Chinese mainland stocks shed 1.3 percent after the central bank raised bank reserve requirements for a seventh time this year as part of a concerted campaign to keep the economy from overheating.

REBOUNDING

The MSCI index looked set to end higher for a third straight week, continuing its recovery from a five-month trough plumbed on Aug. 17. It is now 19 percent above the low and just 5 percent below the July 24 life high.

Investors bought miners amid talk of a possible takeover in the sector involving Rio Tinto, driving Rio shares up 2 percent, while rival mining giant BHP Billiton climbed 2.2 percent.

Lihir Gold was also in favour, rising 5.7 percent after the miner said striking employees at its Papua New Guinea mine had returned to work, while other gold miners such as Zijin Mining benefitted from the recent rally in gold price.

Spot gold hit a high of $697.70 on Thursday -- the highest since May 2006 -- and was trading near $693 an ounce on Friday in Asia.

But wariness about the U.S. economy kept the major exporters under pressure. Canon Inc fell 2.3 percent, chip-tester maker Advantest Corp dropped 3.1 percent, while memory chip maker Hynix Semiconductor eased 3.3 percent.

MARKING TIME

In the forex market, the dollar steadied against a basket of currencies after falling to a one-month low in the previous session on worries about the U.S. economy.

But the market overall was subdued.

"People are happy to wait until Monday to see where the market is," said Luke Waddington, head of forex trading at Royal Bank of Scotland in Tokyo.

The U.S. dollar index rose to 80.5, but was still not far off Thursday's low of 80.364 -- a level last seen on Aug. 9.

The euro eased to $1.3673 from a session-high near $1.37, and was at 157.39 yen off an early high above 158 yen. The dollar was a touch lower at 115.08 yen.

Japanese government bonds posted modest gains as the Nikkei lost ground. The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond eased 2.5 basis points to 1.585 percent.

U.S. Treasuries were also a touch firmer in Asia, keeping the benchmark 10-year yield within sight of a nine-month low plumbed earlier in the week. It was trading at 4.50 percent.