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GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares rise on Fed dovishness; growth concerns linger

Published 2019-03-21, 02:57 a/m
Updated 2019-03-21, 03:00 a/m
© Reuters.  GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares rise on Fed dovishness; growth concerns linger

© Reuters. GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares rise on Fed dovishness; growth concerns linger

* MSCI Asia ex-Japan +0.5 pct

* European shares seen rising

* China blue-chips, Australian shares erase losses

* Sterling rebounds after sharp fall

* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

By Andrew Galbraith

SHANGHAI, March 21 (Reuters) - Shares in Asia rose on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve abandoned forecasts for any interest rate hikes this year, but concerns over U.S.-China trade talks and slowing global growth continued to weigh on investor confidence.

European equity markets were expected to follow Asia's lead. Spreadbetters see London's FTSE .FTSE rising 0.2 percent at the open, while Paris' CAC .FCHI is seen up 0.4 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX .GDAXI up 0.1 percent.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.5 percent.

Chinese blue-chips .CSI300 , which spent the morning swinging between small losses and gains, were up 0.4 percent in afternoon trade, while Seoul's Kospi .KS11 also added 0.4 percent as regulators announced plans to cut the stock transaction tax this year. shares .AXJO ended flat after see-sawing throughout the day. A drop in the jobless rate tempered market expectations of a rate cut. in Japan were closed for a public holiday.

Gains in the broad Asian index followed a wobbly session on Wall Street, after a move toward risk taking sparked by the Fed's dovish shift was overtaken by growth and trade concerns. .N

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned that Washington may leave tariffs on Chinese goods for a "substantial period" to ensure Beijing's compliance with any trade deal. trade talks are set to resume next week. comments had more of an effect on U.S. shares than their Asian counterparts, said Sean Darby, chief global equity strategist at Jefferies in Hong Kong, adding that a move lower in U.S. rates "actually has a far bigger impact or efficacy in EM and Asia than in the United States itself."

"We've felt that clients have been positioned quite bearishly at the end of last year and have been trying to catch up, so any of the dips have tended to be bought," he added.

In comments at the end of a two-day policy meeting Wednesday, the Fed dropped projections for any interest rate hikes this year amid signs of an economic slowdown, and said it would halt the steady decline of its balance sheet in September. while investors cheered the Fed's new approach, the reasons behind it are creating concern.

"What the Fed is doing is trying to engineer a soft landing. What the market is hearing though is things have gotten so weak so quickly ... and the earnings outlook is so dire that real money managers don't want to chase this rally," Greg McKenna, strategist at McKenna Macro wrote in a morning note to clients.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 0.55 percent to 25,745.67, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.29 percent to 2,824.23 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added less than 0.1 percent to 7,728.97.

FALLING YIELDS

The Fed's comments dragged yields on benchmark U.S. Treasuries lower, with 10-year notes US10YT=RR yielding 2.5244 percent compared with a U.S. close of 2.537 percent on Wednesday.

The two-year yield US2YT=RR , sensitive to expectations of higher Fed fund rates, was at 2.4001 percent, nearly unchanged from its U.S. close of 2.4 percent.

The dollar steadied after falling on Wednesday, with a basket .DXY tracking the currency against major rivals bouncing 0.2 percent to 95.940. The greenback was down about 0.2 percent against the Japanese currency, buying 110.46 yen. JPY=

The euro EUR= was up 0.1 percent on the day at $1.1422, while sterling rebounded from a sharp drop Wednesday after British Prime Minister Theresa May asked the EU to delay Brexit until June 30, a shorter extension than some in the market had been expecting.

May later said she was "not prepared to delay Brexit any further." pound was up 0.2 percent at $1.3221. GBP=

Global growth worries extended to commodity markets, where oil prices, which had jumped Wednesday on supply concerns, retreated.

U.S. crude CLc1 fell 0.1 percent to $60.17 a barrel after touching four-month highs on Wednesday. But Brent crude LCOc1 regained some ground, adding 0.15 percent to $68.60.

Weakness in oil prices is seen to be limited by efforts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to curb supply. Widely watched U.S. data also showed supplies were tightening. gained on the weaker dollar, with spot gold XAU= adding about 0.5 percent to $1,318.94 per ounce. GOL/

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