LONDON (AFP) - European stocks fell Friday, with losses less acute than in Asia where Tokyo matched Wall Street by striking a three-year low, as US lawmakers prepared to vote on a multi-billion-dollar rescue package.

Markets were also rattled by economic growth concerns after the European Central Bank signalled it could soon cut eurozone interest rates amid unprecedented turmoil on global markets.

In a further development, Switzerland's biggest bank UBS on Friday said it would axe a further 2,000 jobs after being hammered by the US subprime loan crisis and related global credit crunch.

"After yesterday's (US) sell-off, there's an expectation that Wall Street will see some modest buying at the open," said CMC Markets analyst Ian Griffiths on Friday.

Wall Street was due to reopen at 1330 GMT, while the market was also awaiting key US monthly jobs data.

In morning European trading, London dropped 0.54 percent, Paris sank 0.50 percent and Frankfurt slid 0.25 percent. All three stock markets markets had shed about two percent in value on Thursday.

Most Asian bourses fell sharply on Friday. Tokyo closed down two percent, Hong Kong dived 2.9 percent and Sydney shed 1.4 percent.

The Bank of Japan pumped 800 billion yen (7.6 billion dollars) into money markets for a 13th straight business day to help boost liquidity.

Dealers on Friday took their cue from Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 3.22 percent to a three-year low on Thursday.

The House of Representatives in Washington was Friday to vote on a revised plan to spend 700 billion dollars (505 billion euros) that the US government hopes will ease pressure on the economy.

"Even if the House of Representatives pass the bill -- and this time it would be truly stunning if it were rejected -- it is not actually clear whether this will actually make much difference," said Capital Spreads director Simon Denham.

There were doubts about the effectiveness of the US plan to rid Wall Street banks of toxic mortgage assets, added Denham.

The House had rejected an initial bailout plan on Monday, causing the Dow to record its biggest single-day points loss on record.

"Even if the House passes the bill, we cannot expect markets to recover given the weak economy," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, equities chief at Daiwa Securities SMBC in Tokyo.

On Thursday, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said the central bank in charge of the eurozone had considered cutting interest rates before eventually deciding to leave borrowing costs at 4.25 percent at its regular monthly meet.

On the economic front, news Thursday of a jump in weekly jobless claims to 497,000 highlighted ongoing US economic worries.

A separate report showed a 4.0 percent drop in August factory orders. John Ryding at RDQ Economics said this suggested the economy "probably contracted significantly in the third quarter and the recession appears to be deepening."

Global equities have been battered in recent weeks following the collapse of Wall Street titan Lehman Brothers, the buyout of Merrill Lynch and the government bailout of insurer American International Group.

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