Asia subdued before oil producers' meeting, dollar's advance slows

By Shinichi Saoshiro TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian stocks were off to a subdued start on Friday as caution toward a weekend meeting of oil producers tempered risk sentiment, while the dollar's advance slowed in wake of soft U.S. inflation data. Japan's Nikkei shed 0.5 percent, while Australian shared edged up 0.2 percent . The index has gained about 3.6 percent on the week during which it hit a five-month high, helped by a slight thaw in pessimism toward the Chinese economy and earlier surge in crude