Global shares slip before earnings

Stock prices fell on worries about disappointing company results while world oil prices dipped on profit-taking, but signs of improvement in the global economy capped the losses.

The dollar fell against the yen after rallying to a 2-1/2- year high last week, which some traders reckoned was overdone. But it strengthened against the euro on speculation over whether the European Central Bank might signal future interest rate cuts when ECB officials meet on Thursday.

The three major US stock indexes opened lower. The Dow Jones industrial average was last down 39.87 points, or 0.30 percent, at 13,395.34. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 4.78 points, or 0.33 percent, at 1,461.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 4.93 points, or 0.16 percent, at 3,096.73.

After touching a 22-month peak last week, the FTSE Eurofirst index of top European shares was down 0.44 percent at 1,162.

Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which reached their highest levels since August 2011 on Thursday, eased 0.1 percent, while Tokyo's Nikkei share average ended down 0.8 percent, just below a 23-month high.