* Hopes of milder U.S. tariffs support market sentiment
* Nikkei up 0.5 pct, Hang Seng up 1.4 percent
* Dollar steadies; Mexico peso, C$ recover
* ECB may offer hint on how it will end bond buyingprogramme
* European shares are also set to open for higher
By Hideyuki Sano and Tomo Uetake
TOKYO, March 8 (Reuters) - Asian shares found relief onThursday as fears about a global trade war amid U.S. PresidentDonald Trump's push to introduce protectionist tariffs weretempered by signs the move could include exemptions for keypartners.
European shares were also seen rising, with spread-bettersexpecting Germany's Dax .GDAXI to rise 0.2 percent, France'sCac .FCHI to gain 0.3 percent and Britain's FTSE .FTSE toopen flat.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 1.0 percent, while in Japan the Nikkei .N225 gained 0.5 percent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI led the region with rise of 1.4percent after China posted surprisingly strong trade data forthe first two months of the year. Wall Street, the S&P 500 .SPX ended down just 0.05percent at 2,726.8 after an initial loss of almost one percent,with tech shares being a major bright spot.
They erased most losses as White House spokeswoman SarahSanders told a media briefing that the impending hefty U.S.tariffs on steel and aluminium imports could exclude Canada,Mexico and a clutch of other countries. soothed worries about the prospect of more aggressivetrade measures after the departure of Trump's top economicadviser Gary Cohn. about the U.S. tariff should ease today followingthe comments from the White House," said Masahiro Ichikawa,senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management.
"Still the issue will continue to hang over in the markets.Investors need to see exactly what steps Trump will take andwhat retaliatory actions other countries will take in comingdays."
A White House official said on Wednesday Trump plans tooffer Canada and Mexico a 30-day exemption from planned tariffson steel and aluminium imports, which could be extended based onprogress in NAFTA talks.
Trump was expected to sign a presidential proclamation toestablish the tariffs during a ceremony on Thursday, but a WhiteHouse official said later it could slide into Friday becausedocuments had to be cleared through a legal process.
Investors worry that the U.S. tariff could trigger a tradewar, shrinking global trade and eventually squeezing corporateprofits that have so far benefited from strong global growth.
Highlighting the strength of the global economy, Chinesedata showed both exports and imports rose more than 20 percentin the first two months of this year from a year earlier. the currency market, the U.S. dollar stabilised againstother major currencies after its recent hit from fears about thetariff plan while the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar recoveredfrom their steep losses.
The euro EUR= traded flat at $1.2406, having risen to$1.2447 on Wednesday, its highest levels since Feb. 16. Thecommon currency has been rising since it had hit a seven-weeklow of $1.21545 hit on Thursday, when Trump unveiled his tariffplan.
The European Central Bank is all but certain to keep policyunchanged on Thursday but may tweak its communication stance tooffer at least a few clues about its progress towards ending itsunprecedented bond purchases later this year. focus in today's ECB meeting will be whether the bankchanges its forward guidance around QE," said Kengo Suzuki,chief forex strategist at Mizuho Securities.
"Any hawkish turn would boost the euro, pretty simple. Ifthere are no changes to the wording, the euro could fall. Butthings are not that simple as investors have to worry about apotential trade war with the U.S," he added.
The dollar changed hands at 105.97 yen JPY= , littlechanged in Asia, keeping some distance from its 16-month low of105.24 touched on Friday.
The Mexican peso last stood at 18.6900 per dollar MXN=D2 ,bouncing back from Wednesday's low of 18.90 while the Canadiandollar CAD=D4 changed hands at C$1.2888 to the U.S. unit, offits eight-month low of C$1.3002 hit earlier this week.
Bitcoin fell as U.S. and Japanese regulators tried totighten their grip on cryptocurrencies.
Japan's financial regulator punished seven cryptocurrencyexchanges, suspending business at the two of them, in an effortto shore up consumer protection after the $530 million theft ofdigital money from Tokyo-based Coincheck. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said many onlinetrading platforms for cryptocurrencies should be registered withthe regulator and subject to additional rules. the Bitstamp exchange, the digital currency traded at$9,780 BTC=BTSP , falling 1.6 percent after having lost 7.6percent on Wednesday, its biggest daily fall in over a month.
In commodities, oil prices steadied after falling theprevious day on the back of record U.S. crude production andrising inventories.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 wereat $61.22 a barrel, up 0.1 percent after having fallen more than2 percent the previous session.
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