* Asian stock markets : https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* Pound near 20-month trough on Brexit related uncertainty
* Disappointing economic data, Sino-U.S. trade war weigh
* Wall St staged late rebound, positive cue for Asia
By Swati Pandey
SYDNEY, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The pound hovered near 20-month lows on Tuesday, as political turmoil deepened in Britain with a key vote on Brexit being delayed while U.S. shares staged a late rebound in a positive signal for Asian markets.
British Prime Minister Theresa May abruptly postponed a parliamentary vote on her Brexit agreement, a move that hit risk assets globally and sent the pound GBP= spiralling to $1.2505. disappointing data from major economies including China and Japan have fanned worries about global economic activity. The ongoing Sino-U.S. trade battle has also clouded the outlook for world growth.
All that has put brakes to the rapid momentum in equities, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS skidding more than 16 percent so far this year. It had surged 33.5 percent in 2017.
The index was last off 0.1 percent. Australian shares .AXJO gained 0.6 percent while Japan's Nikkei .N225 lifted 0.2 percent.
Overnight on Wall Street, major indexes bounced modestly from an initial drop due in part to a recovery in Apple shares AAPL.O . The Dow .DJI added 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq .IXIC climbed 0.7 percent.
But analysts said overall sentiment was still fragile.
"The bear market vibe at the end of 2018 is expected to continue, with asset prices finding their lows in the first half of 2019 once rate expectations peak and global earnings expectations trough," according to BofAML.
For the year ahead, BofAML has forecast modest gains in equities and credit, a weaker dollar, widening credit spreads, and a flattening to inverted yield curve - a combination that calls for heightened volatility.
Sterling cracked below important chart support around $1.26 as May delayed the vote and the European Union refused to renegotiate while lawmakers doubted her chances of winning big changes. dollar climbed on the yen JPY= to 113.19. An index that measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies .DXY has jumped 5.5 percent so far this year as investors pile on the dollar as a safe haven bet.
The currency also gained as the U.S. Federal Reserve stayed on its policy tightening path, although uncertainties over how much further the Fed can go have turned dollar bets sour.
Among emerging markets, investors will focus on India where the central bank governor abruptly resigned. commodities, oil prices echoed the weakness in global stock markets amid worries about a slowdown in demand. O/R
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https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4 Asia-Pacific valuations
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