Asia stocks slip in holiday-thinned trade

By Lisa Twaronite TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares got off to a rocky start on Monday after mixed U.S. jobs data helped sink shares on Wall Street, but trade was thin with many regional markets closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.2 percent, with Australian shares slipping about the same amount. Japan's Nikkei pared early steep losses, helped by a weaker yen, but it also was down 0.2 percent by midday.