* Asian stock markets : https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* MSCI ex-Japan up 0.4%, Nikkei jumps 1%
* U.S., China to have face-to-face trade talk in Sept
* Analysts remained cautious about prospect of trade deal
* Currencies muted; gold, silver off recent highs
By Swati Pandey
SYDNEY, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Asian shares ticked higher on
Friday as China struck a hopeful tone on trade with the United
States but continued fears about a global growth slowdown, or
even a recession, capped sharp rallies.
Investors were focused on a string of economic releases due
over the weekend including China's official manufacturing survey
which would provide a good gauge of the real impact from the
Sino-U.S. trade war.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS climbed 0.4% but stayed near a recent 7-1/2
month trough. For the week, it is set for a small weekly loss.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 jumped 1% while South Korea's KOSPI
index .KS11 gained 1.3% and Australian shares .AXJO rose
0.7%.
Overnight, Wall Street added more than 1% after China's
commerce ministry said Beijing and Washington were discussing
the next round of face-to-face talks scheduled for September.
The comments spurred hopes for progress in the talks and
boosted the Chinese yuan, which snapped a 10-day losing streak.
Stock analysts were more circumspect though.
"It's really hard to say the U.S.-China trade backdrop
changed dramatically in the last 12 hours – the Sept 1 tariffs
are still going into effect and there are further hikes on the
calendar," JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) analysts wrote to clients in a note.
U.S. President Donald Trump said some discussions were
taking place on Thursday, with more talks scheduled.
China's commerce ministry also said a September round of
meetings was being discussed by the two sides, but added it was
important for Washington to cancel a tariff increase.
"In reality, the headlines are extremely innocuous and don't
differ from what China has said in the past but they crossed
during a dead zone of liquidity and attendance and as a result
are having an outsized influence on trading," JPMorgan said.
Trade tensions have dominated market sentiment for much of
this year with wild swings in world stocks as rhetoric between
the United States and China fluctuates from conciliatory to
combative.
Last week, China unveiled tit-for-tat tariffs on $75 billion
of U.S. goods. In response, U.S. President Donald Trump said he
would tack an additional 5% duty onto $550 billion of Chinese
goods.
The volatile nature of the negotiations have kept many
analysts cautious.
"The recent escalation of the tariff war provides no hopes
of a near-term trade deal," ING's Asia economist Prakash Sakpal
wrote.
"As such, we are in for a long stretch of slow growth and
increasingly challenging policy environment, as some central
bankers have warned."
Even so, U.S. Treasury yields rose overnight with the
benchmark 10-year Treasury US10YT=RR climbing to 1.535% from a
three-year low of 1.443% touched earlier this week.
Among currencies, the dollar .DXY was a tad weaker at
98.422 against a basket of six major currencies. It was unmoved
against the Japanese yen at 106.49 after gains overnight while
the euro EUR= was flat too at $1.1053.
Sterling GBP= held at $1.218 ahead of a crucial few days
for parliament next week which could even result in a
no-confidence motion and a new election.
In commodities, spot gold XAU= came off recent highs to
trade at $1,523.4 an ounce. Silver also to $18.23 an ounce after
hitting its highest level in more than two years. U.S. crude CLc1 slipped 16 cents, or 0.3%, to $56.55 a
barrel.
Asia stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Asia-Pacific valuations https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA
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(Editing by Sam Holmes)