* Nikkei, S.Korean shares edge lower
* Dollar rises, euro dips after weak euro zone data
* Little impact seen from G8 meeting at the weekend
* Oil edges lower
By Masayuki Kitano
TOKYO, June 15 (Reuters) - Asian shares edged lower on Monday and pulled back from eight-month highs hit earlier this month, as investors fretted over whether the global economy had improved enough to justify a further rally.
Investors bought back into the dollar as a drop in oil prices from last week's eight-month highs prompted profit-taking in commodities-linked currencies such as the Australian dollar.
Market players said a meeting of Group of Eight finance ministers at the weekend contained few surprises, adding that they were now focusing on factors such as forthcoming U.S. economic data, moves in U.S. bond yields, and commodities trends.
Asian stocks are taking a pause after rallying more than 60 percent since early March, said Daisuke Uno, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
"While there is a sense of optimism, there are also questions about whether economic indicators have really recovered to where they were before."
The weekend G8 meeting showed that there were differences regarding how quickly rich nations should exit from unconventional economic policies.
"There are people who are in a rush and those who are not. They are not looking in the same direction," Uno said, adding that the impact on financial markets is likely to be limited, given the lack of consensus within the G8.
Group of Eight finance ministers said in a statement they believe their economies are stabilising but recovery from the credit crisis remains shaky.
The finance ministers said they had started to consider how to unwind the drastic steps taken to fight the credit crisis once an economic recovery becomes certain.
The United States and others, however, warned there must be firmer signs of recovery before any of the public stimulus for the economy is withdrawn.
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan fell 1.2 percent to 328.94 as of 0157 GMT, pulling away from a 2009 high of 337.68 hit in early June that was its best level since late September.
BACK TO NORMAL?
The index has surged about 62 percent from its March bear market low, but has failed to extend gains since hitting the eight-month peak. Investors worried that demand was still too weak and feared higher borrowing costs for consumers and businesses may hold back a recovery in the United States.
The levels indicate in part a return to normalcy nine months after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in mid-September sent global financial markets into a nosedive.
Japan's Nikkei share average dipped 0.7 percent after hitting an eight-month closing high on Friday. South Korean shares fell 1.3 percent.
"A general feeling of the U.S. economic recession easing has helped bring us this far, but for now there's a sense of achievement at getting over 10,000, and this is likely to spark profit-taking," said Noritsugu Hirakawa, a strategist at Okasan Securities, referring to Japan's Nikkei share average.
The dollar rose 0.3 percent against a basket of six major currencies.
The dollar gained a lift as investors booked profits in currencies such as the Australian dollar, which fell 0.7 percent.
The euro fell 0.4 percent, retreating after data last week showed that April euro zone industrial production fell by a record.
U.S. Treasuries edged higher, with the benchmark 10-year note rising 5/32 in price to yield 3.772 percent, down from an eight-month high around 4.0 percent hit last week after a weak 10-year auction, which was seen as reflecting investors' worries about ballooning U.S. debt issuance.
There are concerns that sharp spikes in yields could hamper the U.S. economy, since interest rates on many loans and mortgages are benchmarked to government bond yields.
U.S. crude futures dipped 0.6 percent to $71.60 a barrel, edging down from an eight-month high hit last week.
U.S. crude settled at $72.68 a barrel last Thursday, the highest settlement since Oct. 20. (Additional reporting by Elaine Lies and Satomi Noguchi in Tokyo; Editing by Jan Dahinten)