* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* Risk aversion eases on stimulus hopes
* Stocks get a boost, bond yields rebound
* Chinese shares choppy after loan prime rate cut
* Traders look to policymakers for more stimulus clues
By Stanley White
TOKYO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Asian shares rose on Tuesday as
hopes for stimulus in major economies tempered anxiety about a
global recession, boosting riskier assets and drawing money from
safe-havens such as bonds and gold.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.53%, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose
0.54%. Wall Street rallied overnight, with the S&P 500 .SPX
gaining 1.21%. .N
In early European trade, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50
futures STXEc1 were flat, German DAX futures FDXc1 were up
0.04%, and Britain's FTSE futures FFIc1 were 0.03% higher.
Shares in China and Hong Kong swung between gains and losses
after China lowered its lending reference rate only slightly in
the first publication of a new benchmark since new interest rate
reforms were announced on Saturday.
For now, however, investors were cheered by signs
policymakers were willing to do more to support their economies
in the grip of international trade frictions, led by the
bruising Sino-U.S. tariff tussle.
The immediate focus shifts to the minutes of the U.S.
Federal Reserve's last meeting due on Wednesday. Traders are
also keenly waiting on the Fed's Jackson Hole seminar and a
Group of Seven summit this weekend for clues on what additional
steps policymakers will take to bolster growth.
Senior White House officials are discussing a temporary
payroll tax cut to boost the economy, the Washington Post
reported on Monday. Hopes for additional stimulus are rising after reports that
Germany is prepared to increase fiscal spending, and after the
People's Bank of China took steps to lower corporate borrowing
costs. "There are expectations for looser monetary policy
everywhere in the world, and this is cushioning the markets
against recent uncertain developments," said Masayuki Kichikawa,
chief macro strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co in
Tokyo.
"China is prepared to do a lot for its economy. I hope to
hear more about fiscal spending in Germany. Central banks have
no choice but to ease. The remaining question is what comes from
fiscal policy." U.S. stock futures ESc1 rose 0.09%, while benchmark
10-year Treasuries yields US10YT=RR eased slightly to 1.5944%,
and 2-year yields traded at 1.5245%.
China set its new one-year Loan Prime Rate CNYLPR1Y=CFXS
at 4.25%, down 6 basis points from 4.31% previously. It was 10
basis points lower than the People's Bank of China's existing
benchmark one-year lending rate.
The new five-year LPR rate was set at 4.85%, according to
the national interbank funding centre.
Chinese shares .CSI300 initially fell at the open but
recovered to trade up 0.16%. Stocks in Hong Kong .HSI
see-sawed, but last traded up 0.1%.
"China has liberalised the lending rate, but they couldn't
shock the banking system by taking rates down sharply," said
Sean Darby, global equity strategist at Jefferies in Hong Kong.
"They have to do this incrementally. They announced this
over the weekend to show the direction they're headed. From that
standpoint, I don't think it's disappointing."
Markets overwhelmingly expect the Fed to cut rates again at
its Sept. 17-18 policy meeting from the current 2.00%-2.25%. The
Fed cut rates in July for the first time in a decade to mitigate
the effects of the U.S.-China trade row and a global slowdown.
Last week, financial markets went into a tailspin after the
Treasury yield curve briefly inverted when short-term yields
traded above those of long-term paper. Investors, who feared a
steep global downturn given an inverted yield curve has presaged
several past U.S. recessions, dumped riskier assets.
However, a bounce in yields from lows hit last week has
eased some of the concerns about the global economy.
Gold XAU= , traditionally bought as a safe-haven during
times of uncertainty, was steady at $1,495.40 per ounce after
tumbling 1.2% on Monday, its biggest daily drop in about a
month. GOL/
The Swiss franc CHF= , another safe-haven asset, was last
quoted at 0.9812 per dollar, near a two-week low.
Oil LCOc1 was mostly steady at above $59 a barrel amid
concerns about tensions in the Middle East. O/R
China benchmark rates and LPR https://tmsnrt.rs/2Z4rLPv
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(Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Sam Holmes and Himani Sarkar)