* All Wall St indexes down; CSX tumbles on trade-related weakness
* Treasury yields slump; 10yr, 30yr shed over 7 bps each overnight
* Bank of Korea surprises with earlier-than-expected rate cut
* Precious metals in demand; gold at 2wk high, silver at 5mth high
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Tomo Uetake
TOKYO, July 18 (Reuters) - Asian shares edged lower on Thursday as Wall Street stocks dropped on early signs that the U.S.-China trade war could hurt corporate earnings, which helped underpin solid demand for safe-haven U.S. Treasuries.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS eased 0.2%, while Japan's benchmark Nikkei .N225 shed 1.7% and Australian shares .AXJO fell 0.3%.
Chinese shares followed the suit, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite .SSEC and the blue-chip CSI 300 .CSI300 down 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI retreated 0.5%.
South Korea's market .KS11 was off 0.4% after the Bank of Korea unexpectedly cut its policy interest rate for the first time in three years, as uncertainties from a trade dispute with Japan added to anxiety about the economy's outlook. Wall Street, all three major indexes fell on Wednesday as weak results from trade-related CSX Corp CSX.O stoked concerns that the protracted trade standoff between the United States and China could hurt U.S. corporate earnings. in the week, U.S. President Donald Trump kept up pressure on Beijing with a threat to put tariffs on another $325 billion of Chinese goods, amid market nervousness over when face-to-face talks will resume. Wall Street Journal reported that progress toward a U.S.-China trade deal has stalled while the Trump administration determines how to address Beijing's demands that it ease restrictions on Huawei Technologies. Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 0.4%, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 0.5%. .N
Netflix Inc NFLX.O shares tumbled in after-market trade after the world's dominant subscription video service lost U.S. streaming customers for the first time in eight years and missed targets for new subscribers overseas, raising worries in an already nervous the market. yields slid as concerns about the U.S.-China trade war boosted demand for safe haven debt and after data showed weakness in the U.S. housing market.
Yields on benchmark 10-year and 30-year bonds climbed more than seven basis points each, to 2.06% and 2.57%, respectively.
U.S. homebuilding fell for a second straight month in June and permits dropped to a two-year low, suggesting the housing market continued to struggle despite declining mortgage rates. the foreign exchange market, the dollar nursed light losses on Thursday, weighed down by lower U.S. yields and a rebound by the pound from 27-month lows.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday said the dollar was overvalued by 6% to 12%, based on near-term economic fundamentals. dollar index .DXY versus a basket of six major currencies was not much changed at 97.099 after shedding 0.2% the previous day.
The euro EUR= also was nearly flat at $1.1238 after crawling up marginally 0.1% on Wednesday. The greenback fell 0.2% to 107.72 yen JPY= , extending an overnight loss of 0.3%.
Sterling GBP=D4 was steady at $1.2437. It had stumbled to $1.2382 overnight, its lowest level since April 2017 on concerns of a no-deal Brexit.
"Risks of a no-deal Brexit have increased to worryingly high levels. Investors should be concerned," said Seema Shah, London-based chief strategist at Principal Global Investors.
"In the scenario where a no-deal Brexit becomes a realistic prospect, the continued decline in sterling will be just a drop in the ocean."
Britain's fiscal watchdog is expected to say on Thursday the country's economy will fall into a recession next year and that its economy will be 3% smaller in the event of a "no-deal" Brexit, The Times newspaper reported. metals were in demand, with gold prices hitting their highest in two weeks on Thursday, as weaker-than-expected U.S. data reinforced expectations for an interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve later this month, dragging the dollar lower. GOL
Spot gold XAU=EBS gained as much as 0.2% to hit $1,429.10 per ounce, its highest level since July 3. Silver XAG=EBS climbed as much as 1.0% to 16.12, its highest level since February, extending gains for a fourth straight session.
Oil prices steadied on Thursday after falling in the previous session when official data showed U.S. stockpiles of products like gasoline rose sharply last week, suggesting weak demand during the peak driving season. O/R
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 0.3% to $63.86 a barrel, while U.S West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 edged up 0.1% to $56.84 a barrel.