* MSCI Asia ex-Japan up 0.4 pct, Nikkei falls 0.4 pct
* European shares seen opening up to 0.3 pct higher
* Dollar index near two-month high as safe-haven sought
* Euro hovers near two-month lows vs dollar
TOKYO, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Asian shares and the dollar
steadied on Tuesday, with investors' reluctant to place new bets
amid uncertainty over the outcome of a tight U.S. presidential
election and renewed doubts over Greece's ability to push
through severe fiscal reforms.
Risk-aversion underpinned the dollar near a two-month high
against a basket of major currencies and bound most asset
markets within tight trading ranges, with oil, gold and the euro
all barely budged.
U.S. stock futures indicated a slightly firmer open
on Wall Street, while financial bookmakers called London's FTSE
100, Frankfurt's DAX and Paris's CAC-40
to open up 0.1-0.3 percent, after falling in the previous
session.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt
Romney are statistically tied, but the Democrat has a slight
edge in some of the pivotal states where the election will be
decided, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.
If the election is so close that the result is delayed it
could roil financial markets, as happened in the protracted 2000
Bush versus Gore battle that ended up in the Supreme Court.
"That is a situation global markets fear most and such
uncertainty will have a big negative impact," said Cameron
Peacock, market strategist at IG in Melbourne. "The best
possible outcome would be for a clear and unqualified victor to
emerge."
Meanwhile, the world's leading economies gave themselves a
bit more wiggle room on Monday to meet targets for cutting
budget deficits rather than risk worsening a slowdown in many
countries, chief among them the United States.
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
rose 0.4 percent, pulled higher by a 0.2 percent
rise in Australian shares and a 1.1 percent gain for
South Korean shares that outweighed weakness in most
other Asian equities.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.4 percent, dragged
down by a drop in the index heavyweight HSBC Holdings.
Japan's Nikkei average also fell 0.4 percent .
FISCAL CLIFF, GREEK VOTE
Whichever candidate prevails in the U.S. election, the
prospect of a less than decisive win and lack of a clear
majority in Congress raises the chances of messy negotiations
over the "fiscal cliff" - nearly $600 billion worth of spending
cuts and tax increases that risk pushing the economy into deep
recession - analysts say.
In addition to the U.S. election, investors need to be
mindful of the potential for renewed stress in Europe and
China's political leadership transition, Morgan Stanley said.
"Markets are currently beset by opposing (positive and
negative) factors, with the weight of upcoming risk events now
turning us decidedly more cautious ... Risks of a messy
negotiation around the fiscal cliff are likely to increase
volatility at minimum," it said in a research note.
Greece faces protests as the government is set to propose
its latest belt-tightening measures for a vote by lawmakers on
Wednesday, which is needed to secure more aid and stave off
bankruptcy.
But a bailout deal to keep Greece afloat is unlikely to be
struck next week when euro zone finance ministers meet in
Brussels, a senior EU official said on Monday, as the euro zone
still had to find a formula to make Greek debt sustainable and
several countries, including Germany, had to discuss the matter
with their parliaments.
"The market ought to be focusing more on the imminent
situation facing Greece, even more than the U.S. presidential
election," said Daisuke Karakama, market economist for Mizuho
Corporate Bank in Tokyo.
The euro eased a touch to $1.2789, staying near the
previous day's low of $1.2767 set on trading platform EBS, the
single currency's lowest level in about two months.
The dollar was also off a fraction against a basket of major
currencies, but remained close to the two-month high
scaled on Monday.
The Australian dollar rallied 0.6 percent to
$1.0436, a five-week high, after the Reserve Bank of Australia
left interest rates unchanged at its policy
meeting.
Greek uncertainty bolstered safe-haven bids for German
two-year government bond, sending the yields below
zero for the first time in two months on Monday, while benchmark
10-year U.S. Treasury yields fell to 1.684 percent.
U.S. crude futures were almost unchanged at $85.67 a
barrel and Brent crude was also flat around $107.70.
Gold was little changed around $1,656 an ounce.
Asian credit markets were subdued, leaving the spread on the
iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment-grade index little
changed from Monday.