GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia shares anxious for earnings season, U.S. data deluge

* Asian stock markets : https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* Stocks soften as U.S. earnings season kicks off
* Powell says U.S. economy at inflection point
* Strong data expected on U.S. inflation, retail sales

By Wayne Cole
SYDNEY, April 12 (Reuters) - Asian shares faltered on Monday
as anxious investors wait to see if U.S. earnings can justify
sky-high valuations, while a rally in bonds could be tested by
what should be very strong readings for U.S. inflation and
retail sales this week.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was off 1.1% in slow trade. Tokyo's Nikkei
.N225 edged down 0.6%, while South Korean stocks .KS11 were
near flat.
The Nifty 50 index .NSEI slid 2.4% as India overtook
Brazil to become the country with the second most COVID-19
cases. Chinese blue chips .CSI300 lost 1.5% ahead of a rush of
economic figures from the country.
Shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd 9988.HK BABA.N rose
16% after China slapped a record 18 billion yuan ($2.75 billion)
fine on the e-commerce giant. Over a third of the stock is held
by U.S. investors, and it makes up more than 8% of the MSCI EM
index. "Ever since the Ant IPO was cancelled and with the antitrust
laws in the pipeline, the market has expected that Alibaba would
pay a price," said Louis Tse, managing director at Wealthy
Securities in Hong Kong.
"I think it's good for the share price now that the news has
been delivered and it is cleared up at last." Nasdaq futures NQc1 slipped 0.3% on Monday, as did S&P 500
futures ESc1 . EUROSTOXX 50 futures STXEc1 dithered either
side of flat, while FTSE futures FFIc1 were down 0.3%.
Growth and tech stocks had seen something of a revival last
week as U.S. 10-year Treasury yields retreated to 1.66%
US10YT=TWEB , from a 14-month top of 1.776%.
Thomas Mathews, a markets economist at Capital Economics,
doubted the rally in bonds would last, however.
"Given the pace of the economic recovery and the Fed's
apparent unwillingness to stand in the way of higher yields, we
think long-term yields will rise again before long," he said.
Over the weekend, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said
the economy was about to start growing much more quickly, though
the coronavirus remained a threat.
Data out this week are expected to show U.S. inflation
jumped in March, while retail sales is seen surging perhaps even
with a double-digit gain. Treasury is also set to test demand
with offers of $100 billion in debt this week.
"Rapid economic growth, supported by reopening and
accommodative fiscal policy, may disproportionately benefit the
sectors of the stock market that are more sensitive to the
health of the economy," said Mathews at Capital.
"And the composition of that growth is likely to be more
skewed towards those sectors than it might have been during a
typical economic expansion."
It is also likely to show in profits. The banks kick off
first-quarter earnings season this week with Goldman Sachs
GS.N , JPMorgan JPM.N and Wells Fargo WFC.N scheduled to
report on Wednesday.
Analysts expect profits for S&P 500 firms to show a 25% jump
from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv IBES data. That
would be the strongest performance for the quarter since 2018.
The pullback in yields was enough to see the dollar come off
the boil last week. It was last trading at 92.265 =USD against
a basket of currencies, down from a peak of 93.439.
It was flat on the yen at 109.60 JPY= , and short of its
March peak of 110.96. The euro was holding at $1.1889 EUR= and
above its recent trough of $1.1702.
Gold prices were idling at $1,737 an ounce XAU= , having
failed to sustain a top of $1,758 last week. GOL/
Oil prices fell around 2% last week as production increases
and renewed COVID-19 lockdowns in some countries offset optimism
about a recovery in fuel demand. O/R
Brent LCOc1 was quoted up 3 cents on Monday at $62.98 a
barrel, while U.S. crude CLc1 was flat at $59.32.

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(Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Ana Nicolaci da Costa)