GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks slip in long wait for U.S. jobs data

(Repeats for additional subscribers)

* Risk rally fades as investors get cautious again

* U.S. corporates push through heavy bond supply

* Oil climbs above $42 on bargain hunting (Updates prices, adds quote, European outlook)

By Kevin Plumberg

HONG KONG, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Asian stocks edged down and the U.S. dollar drifted higher on Friday, as investors braced for the December U.S. payrolls data, expected to show sharp job losses and dash hopes for a speedy recovery this year.

Major European stock markets were expected to open as much as 1 percent higher, according to financial bookmakers, after Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) agreed to support legislation that would let troubled borrowers save their homes through bankruptcy.

Analysts predict the world's largest economy probably shed more than half a million jobs last month, bringing job losses in 2008 to a post-war record, boding ill for Asia's struggling exporters who have been starved of demand from developed nations.

Global equities, emerging market currencies and high-grade credit had all benefited in the last month from a steady improvement in investors' risk tolerance. However, dour corporate outlooks, including from the world's top retailer Wal-Mart, and prospects for higher unemployment have curbed appetite for riskier assets. [ID:nSP409831]