* MSCI Asia ex-Japan +0.14%
* S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq finish at record closing highs
* Trade headlines offset soft U.S. data
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Andrew Galbraith
SHANGHAI, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Asian shares ticked higher on
Wednesday as more upbeat signals from Sino-U.S. trade talks
fanned hopes of an imminent end to tariff hostilities, which
helped offset concerns about a slowing U.S. economy.
The positive mood pushed Wall Street indexes to fresh record
closing highs on Tuesday and stoked confidence in early Asian
trade with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside
Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS up 0.14%. Australian shares .AXJO added
0.46% and Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 0.41%.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United
States and China are close to agreement on the first phase of a
trade deal after top negotiators from the two countries spoke by
telephone and agreed to keep working on remaining issues.
But while Trump said Washington was in the "final throes" of
work on a trade deal with Beijing, he also underscored U.S.
support for protesters in Hong Kong, seen as a sore point for
Beijing. Nevertheless, the comments were enough to offset soft
economic data from the U.S., which showed a fourth straight
monthly contraction in consumer confidence and an unexpected
drop in new home sales. Some analysts said that a fall in U.S. bond yields on
Tuesday also pointed to more mechanical explanations beyond
trade for rising equity prices.
"It reinforces the notion that it really is the Fed
pump-priming to grease the wheels of market liquidity which is
driving both these moves," Greg McKenna, strategist at McKenna
Macro, said in a morning note.
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
0.2% to 28,121.68, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.22% to 3,140.52
and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 0.18% to 8,647.93. All
three indexes notched record closing highs. On Wednesday, the rally in U.S. Treasuries moderated across
most of the curve, with benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR
yielding 1.7465%, up from their U.S. close of 1.74% on Tuesday.
The two-year yield US2YT=RR , watched as a guide to market
expectations of Fed policy, rose to 1.5939% compared with a U.S.
close of 1.586%.
In currency markets, the dollar strengthened 0.07% against
the yen to 109.11 JPY= and the euro EUR= was slightly
weaker, buying $1.1015.
The dollar index .DXY , which tracks the greenback against
a basket of six major rivals, was up 0.05% at 98.301.
Oil prices retreated after rising Tuesday on reassuring
trade headlines. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was
down 0.36% at $58.20 per barrel.
Gold was lower, changing hands at $1,459.99 per ounce on the
spot market XAU= . GOL/