* Nikkei falls 2.2 pct after long weekend
* Spreadbetters see European stocks opening lower on VW fallout
* Concerns about global growth sap investors' risk appetite
* Euro helped by Draghi's comments
* Platinum struggles at multi-year lows amid VW scandal
By Shinichi Saoshiro and Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Asian shares were largely lower on Thursday after more dour economic news in China and the United States piled pressure on riskier assets.
Spreadbetters expected Britain's FTSE, Germany's DAX and France's CAC to open slightly lower on continuing fallout from the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal.
Worries that an eventual tightening in U.S. monetary policy and slower growth in China could knock the global economy have scared off investors, particularly those invested in stocks and commodities.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.2 percent after having posted their biggest single-day fall in almost a month the previous day.
Shanghai shares trimmed a chunk of early gains and were up only 0.3 percent as of 0511 GMT, reflecting how investor confidence in the economy remains wobbly at best, while South Korea's Kospi nudged up 0.2 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1 percent.
Japan's Nikkei average, opening for the first time since Friday after a string of national holidays, tumbled 2.2 percent, edging near its seven-month low touched earlier this year. Shares of Japanese automakers sagged in a delayed reaction to the Volkswagen scandal.
The scandal has raised fears among economists that it could develop into a major threat to Europe's largest economy.
Wall Street also lost ground on Wednesday, dragged down by economic reports portraying U.S. factory growth as tepid and China in its worst manufacturing contraction since the global financial crisis.
"Investors will be cautious for the time being. Markets will become steadier only when uncertainties over Chinese economy and the U.S. monetary policy diminish," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management.
Although shares in Volkswagen rose 5.2 percent on Wednesday, they had lost about a third of its value in the previous two sessions.
In the currency market, the euro was helped by comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi that the bank needed more time to decide on whether further stimulus is required.
The euro rose to $1.1193, having bounced back from three-week low of $1.1105 touched on Wednesday.
The spectre of higher U.S. interest rates and slower growth in China continues to weigh on many emerging market currencies, however.