* Spreadbetters predict mixed opening for European shares

* Solid China manufacturing activity reports limit Asian share losses

* Dollar index hits two-week peak after U.S. data suggests economy resilient

* Euro remains under pressure after biggest fall vs dollar in 6 months

By Lisa Twaronite

TOKYO, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Asian shares struggled on Friday, as surveys showing improvement in Chinese manufacturing activity were eclipsed by anxiety over when the U.S. Federal Reserve will start to taper its massive stimulus.

That uncertainty, heightened by upbeat U.S. data overnight, pushed the dollar to a two-week high and contributed to largely cautious trading in riskier assets.

Europe looks set for a subdued start. Financial spreadbetters predicted mixed performances, with Britain's FTSE 100 seen opening much as 0.1 percent higher; Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 are predicted to drop as much as 0.2 percent.

Reassuring signals on China's factory activity offered some support to Asian shares.

China's manufacturing sector grew at the fastest pace in 18 months in October, with the official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rising to 51.4 last month from September's 51.1, beating economists' consensus forecast of 51.2.

A separate private report, the final HSBC/Markit PMI, came in at 50.9, up from 50.2 in September and unchanged from a preliminary flash estimate released last week.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was slightly lower in late trade, while Japan's Nikkei stock average ended down 0.9 percent at a one-week closing low.

U.S. S&P E-mini futures edged up about 0.1 percent, after the S&P 500 Index closed down about 0.4 percent but still gained 4.5 percent for the month.

Later on Friday, the U.S. ISM survey of manufacturing for October could offer investors a fresh signal on the Fed's future course.

"If the ISM report is better than expected, it could add to revived tapering expectations, and U.S. yields and the dollar could go up and stocks could go down," said Masashi Murata, senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in Tokyo.

Data on Thursday showed the pace of business activity in the U.S. Midwest jumped more than expected in October, while jobless claims decline in the latest week, soothing some worries about sluggish fourth-quarter growth after last month's federal government shutdown.

Still, not all investors or economists were convinced that the latest U.S. data heralded a shift in monetary policy expectations.

"The existence of noise in the October data will likely make it difficult for the Fed to gather enough evidence to start tapering in December," strategists at Barclays wrote in a note to clients, adding that they still to expect the central bank to begin reducing its current $85 billion monthly bond purchases in March 2014.