GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares dip on mixed U.S. earnings, euro off 2-yr low as ECB holds

* S&P500 slips from record high after earnings
disappointment
* Alphabet, Intel jump in after-hour trade
* Bond yields off lows after ECB holds off rate cuts
* ECB widely seen as easing its policy in Sept

By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, July 26 (Reuters) - Asian share prices opened a tad
lower on Friday on mixed U.S. earnings reports and the euro held
above two-year lows struck overnight after the European Central
Bank held interest rates steady, though officials said a cut was
certain in September.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.15% while Japan's Nikkei .N225
dipped 0.3%.
Wall Street shares fell from record highs on Thursday, with
the S&P 500 .SPX losing 0.53%, following a flurry of downbeat
quarterly results from Ford Motor F.N and other companies.
But several companies that announced their results after the
market had closed on Thursday generally beat market
expectations, and their shares rose in after-hours trade.
Google parent Alphabet GOOGL.O rose 8.4%, Intel Corp
INTC.O 5.6% and Starbucks SBUX.O 6.4%. Amazon AMZN.O ,
however, dipped 1.7% on its first profit miss in two years.
U.S. stock futures ESc1 were little changed in Asia.
"Some capital goods makers have reported soft earnings but
otherwise U.S. earnings have been generally good, partly because
investors had already lowered their expectations," said Hitoshi
Asaoka, senior strategist at Asset Management One.
"Still, with U.S. share prices already at record levels,
further gains are likely to be limited unless we see clearer
signs of recovery in global demand," he said.
A rally in global bonds ran out of steam after European
Central Bank President Mario Draghi cautioned about pulling the
trigger too quickly even though he signalled another round of
monetary easing. ECB Officials told Reuters after the meeting that an
interest rate cut in September appeared certain, while
government bond purchases and a revamped policy message were
also likely. The euro's overnight index swaps EUROIS are pricing in a
cut of more than 10 basis points in September.
The 10-year German government bond yield DE10YT=RR
initially hit a record low of minus 0.463 percent but ended the
day up slightly at minus 0.407 percent.
The U.S. 10-year Treasuries yield also rose 3 basis points
to 2.079 percent US10YT=RR on Thursday and traded at 2.107
percent in the following Asian session.
Also helping to stem falls in bond yields, new orders for
key U.S.-made capital goods surged in June, suggesting some
improvement in business investment. In the currency market, the euro bounced back to at $1.11465
EUR=EBS in Asian trade, after sinking to $1.1101 on Thursday,
its lowest since May 2017.
The yen was little changed against the dollar at 108.67 yen
per dollar JPY=EBS .
Oil prices held firm on rising tensions between the West and
Iran and a big decline in U.S. crude stockpiles, though gains
were held in check by worries about slowing growth in major
economies.
U.S. crude CLc1 ticked up 0.09% to $56.07 a barrel.

(Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)