* Asian stocks edge up, Europe seen slightly higher before
G20
* Investors doubtful over meaningful U.S.-China deal at
summit
* Oil higher on U.S.-Iran tensions; light crude firms over
1%
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Tomo Uetake and Noah Sin
TOKYO/HONG KONG, June 24 (Reuters) - Stock markets in Asia
inched higher on Monday on hopes that U.S. and Chinese leaders
will be able to get trade talks back on track this week, while
oil prices bounced on political tensions between Tehran and
Washington.
European markets are set to trade generally higher, with the
pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures STXEc1 up 0.2%, London's FTSE
futures FFIc1 up 0.1% in early trade, and German DAX futures
FDXc1 flat.
In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS gained 0.2%, hovering not far from
Thursday's six-week high, while Japan's Nikkei average .N225
was gained 0.1%.
In China, the Shanghai Composite .SSEC , the blue-chip CSI
300 .CSI300 , and Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI were all flat.
Wall Street shares closed slightly lower on Friday after
hitting a record high thanks to signals last week from the
Federal Reserve that it may cut interest rates soon to bolster
the U.S. economy from protracted trade conflicts. .N
Investors are nervously awaiting an expected meeting between
presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping later this week for any
signs of a de-escalation in a trade war that is damaging the
global economy and souring business confidence. The leaders will
meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan.
China and the United States should be willing to make
compromises in trade talks and not insist only on what each side
wants, Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said on Monday.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Friday decided to call off
a planned China speech, which also increased optimism ahead of
trade talks. Pence had upset China with a fierce speech in
October in which he laid out a litany of complaints ranging from
state surveillance to human-rights abuses. "Event-driven players are buying back stocks as the United
States and China at least appear to be talking to each other,"
said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi
UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities (MUMSS).
Still, most analysts doubt the two sides will come to any
meaningful agreement as the tensions have extended beyond
tariffs, particularly after Washington put Huawei HWT.UL , the
world's biggest telecoms gear maker, on a blacklist that
effectively bans U.S. firms from doing business with the
company.
"The very best markets can hope for is a more patient delay
and position building at the G20 that at least sees the U.S. and
China refrain from any further escalation," Michael Every,
senior strategist for Asia Pacific at Rabobank, wrote in a note
on Monday.
The U.S. Commerce Department said on Friday it was adding
several Chinese companies and a government-owned institute
involved in super computing with military applications to its
national security "entity list" that bars them from buying U.S.
parts and components without government approval. In China, the Global Times newspaper said FedEx Corp FDX.N
is likely to be added to Beijing's 'unreliable entities list'.
"Few investors would expect a dramatic progress when they
are talking about entity lists, just days before a likely
summit," said MUMSS's Fujito, adding that markets could slip
back on disappointment after the summit.
Oil prices climbed as tensions remained high between Tehran
and Washington following Iran's shooting down of an unmanned
American surveillance drone, with U.S. Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo saying "significant" sanctions on Tehran would be
announced. Brent crude futures rose 0.7% to $65.66 per barrel LCOc1 ,
near Friday's three-week high of $65.76, while U.S. crude
futures CLc1 were up 1.1% at $58.07, standing at its highest
in over three weeks.
Also potentially becoming a factor in the equation, Arab
politicians and commentators greeted Trump's $50 billion Middle
East economic vision with a mixture of derision and
exasperation, although some in the Gulf called for it to be
given a chance. The combination of heightened geopolitical worries and
likely U.S. interest rate cuts encouraged investors to seek the
safety of gold.
The precious metal stood at $1,404.79 per ounce XAU= , not
far from Friday's six-year high of $1,410.78.
In the foreign exchange market, the euro rose to a
three-month high of $1.1386 EUR= against the dollar on Monday
as bearish bets on the greenback remained solid on prospects of
a near-term interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. FRX/
The dollar fetched 107.42 yen JPY= , having slipped to as
low as 107.045 on Friday, the lowest level since its flash crash
on Jan. 3.
Other notable movers include Australian dollar. The Aussie
AUD=D3 firmed almost 0.5% to $0.6958, its highest since June
12, as it looks set for a fifth straight session of gains as its
U.S. counterpart was undermined by aggressive wagers on rate
cuts from the Fed, which offset any bearishness from the
probability of policy easing at home. The Turkish lira strengthened 1.4% to 5.7219 per dollar
TRYTOM=D4 after Turkey's main opposition claimed a decisive
victory on Sunday in Istanbul's re-run election, dealing one of
the biggest blows to President Tayyip Erdogan.
Elsewhere, Bitcoin BTC=BTSP jumped overnight to
$11,247.62, its highest level since March 2018. It was last
quoted at $10,726.68.
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