* Asian shares wobbly as global financial shares face pressure
* Nikkei erases losses to gain 1.2 percent
* Yen eases slightly from 17-month high vs dollar
* Copper at 6-week low as threats of China exports loom
* Oil advances on positive indicators from U.S., Germany
By Nichola Saminather and Hideyuki Sano
SINGAPORE/TOKYO, April 8 (Reuters) - Most Asian shares fell to three-week lows on Friday, but Japan bucked the trend after its finance minister pledged to guard against strong moves in the yen in either direction.
While that led to a slight retreat in the yen from a 17-month high against the dollar, the Japanese currency is still headed for weekly gains against its major counterparts.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 percent, heading for a weekly drop of 1.5 percent.
European equities look set to fare better, with financial spreadbetters expecting Britain's FTSE 100 to open about 0.4 percent higher, Germany's DAX to rise 0.7 percent, and France's CAC 40 to gain 0.1 percent.
Japan's Nikkei erased earlier losses after Finance Minister Taro Aso said the government would take steps to counter "one-sided" moves in the yen in either direction.
The yen's strength is regarded as negative for Japan's big exporting firms, and after earlier falling to near-two-month lows ion strong yen buying, the Nikkei rose 1.2 percent, leaving it with losses of 1.4 percent for the week.
"Not only is (the yen's rise) bad for Japanese growth but it can also be seen as a negative sign for the global economy to the extent that it may signal unwinding carry trades and hence less risk taking in capital flows," Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital in Sydney, wrote in a note.
On the other hand, "the higher the yen goes the greater the pressure on the Bank of Japan to undertake more monetary stimulus."
The yen slipped to 108.83, leaving it set for a weekly gain of 2.5 percent, having strengthened to 107.67 to the dollar on Thursday, its highest since October 2014.
CHINA DATA LOOMS
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up about 0.1 percent at 94.60, poised for a flat weekly performance.
The euro last fetched $1.1363, and was set to end the week up 0.2 percent, having hit a six-month high of $1.1454 on Thursday.
On the other hand, commodity-linked currencies and many emerging economy currencies stepped back from recent multi-month highs as a risk-averse mood took hold on investors.
The Australian dollar traded at $0.7541, having fallen 1.3 percent on Thursday.