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GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares post modest gains as trade fears keep investors cautious

Published 2018-07-26, 11:02 p/m
© Reuters.  GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares post modest gains as trade fears keep investors cautious
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* Ex-Japan Asian shares dip, China shares down 0.5 pct

* Despite EU-US trade agreement, Sino-US outlook negative

* Yuan near 13-month low, euro dips after ECB

By Hideyuki Sano

TOKYO, July 27 (Reuters) - Asian stocks struggled to gain traction on Friday, following a mixed Wall Street finish and as the worsening Sino-U.S. trade dispute kept investors in the region cautious, despite signs of rapprochement between the United States and Europe.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS dipped 0.1 percent. The CSI300 .CSI of Chinese shares fell 0.5 percent.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 eked out a 0.1 percent gain though it was capped by worries that the Bank of Japan could scale down its asset purchase at its upcoming policy review next week.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe, ACWI, .MIWD00000PUS hit four-month highs on Thursday, with European car maker shares .SXAP gaining 2.6 percent after the European Union and the United States agreed to negotiate on trade, easing fears of a Transatlantic trade war.

U.S. industrial shares .SPLRCI also made gains, rising 0.8 percent though the S&P 500 Index .SPX dipped 0.30 percent on Thursday, due to a 19 percent dive in Facebook FB.O on its earnings showing slowing usage. that pushed down the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC 1.01 percent, other U.S. tech firms held firm, with Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares gaining 3.2 percent after market following its stellar earnings. 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield US10YT=RR edged up to 2.9840 percent, its highest level in 1-1/2 months, on receding worries about trade tensions.

Yet Asian shares were more subdued as trade disputes between Washington and Beijing have shown few signs of abating.

"Now that Washington does not need to use its energy to fight with Europe, it could increase pressure on China," said Nobuhiko Kuramochi, chief strategist at Mizuho Securities.

So far this month, MSCI China A shares .MICNA0000PUS have fallen 2.6 percent, taking the biggest hit from U.S. President Donald Trump's threats on tariffs and other issues among major markets, compared to 3.3 percent gains in MSCI ACWI.

The Chinese yuan stayed near its 13-month low touched earlier this week.

The offshore yuan traded at 6.8283 per dollar CNH=D3 , near Tuesday's low of 6.8448.

The Thomson Reuters/HKEX Global CNH index .RXYH , which tracks the offshore yuan against a basket of currencies on a daily basis, fell to its lowest levels since May last year, having fallen 5.2 percent from a two year high hit in mid-May.

The euro traded at $1.1641 EUR= , having fallen 0.73 percent on Thursday after the European Central Bank signalled no change in its timetable to move away from ultra low rates or end its bond purchase program.

The dollar slipped 0.2 percent to 110.98 yen JPY= as the yen got a lift from rise in Japanese bond yields. The 10-year government bond yield JP10YTN=JBTC hit one-year high of 0.105 percent.

In commodities, oil prices extended their recovery, after Saudi Arabia suspended oil shipments through a strait in the Red Sea following an attack on two oil tankers.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 traded at $74.41 per barrel, down 0.17 percent, though they were up 1.9 percent so far this week.

U.S. crude futures CLc1 were almost flat at $69.55 a barrel.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ MSCI, Nikkei datastream chart

http://reut.rs/2sSBRiD

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Editing by Sam Holmes)

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