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GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares ease from 6-mth highs on U.S.-China trade angst

Published 08/11/2019, 07:43
Updated 08/11/2019, 07:45
© Reuters.  GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares ease from 6-mth highs on U.S.-China trade angst
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* Asian shares step back from highs on concerns over trade

* Beijing says U.S., China agree to cancel tariffs in phases

* Sources say the plan meets opposition within White House

* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

By Swati Pandey and Hideyuki Sano

SYDNEY/TOKYO, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Asian stocks retreated from

six-month highs on Friday as conflicting signals from China and

the United States on progress made in trade talks deflated

market hopes of a near term truce to end their damaging tariff

In a sign of the anxiety, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50

futures STXEc1 and German DAX futures FDXc1 eased 0.35% each

in early European trading while London's FTSE futures FFIc1

slipped 0.24%.

E-mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 were down 0.3%.

The moves contrast with Thursday's surge of optimism in

global markets on news Beijing and China have agreed to roll

back tariffs on each others' goods as part of the first phase of

a trade deal.

Multiple sources familiar with the talks said the plan faced

fierce internal opposition at the White House and from outside

advisers. Worries the pact could fall apart as there was still no

specific agreement for a phased rollback prompted some investors

to sell heading into the weekend. MSCI's gauge of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

.MIAPJ0000PUS was off 0.4% at 535.20 points after rising to

538.77, a level not seen since early May. For the week, it is so

far up about 2%.

Tokyo's Nikkei .N225 , which earlier in the day climbed to

a 13-month high, gave up some of the gains to be last up 0.26%.

Chinese shares also reversed course from earlier gains with the

blue-chip index .CSI300 flat. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index

.HSI slipped 0.6%.

"The noise coming from Washington DC was not quite so

upbeat, with reports of conflicts amongst White House advisors

on the merits of the plan," said Jeffery Halley, senior market

analyst at OANDA.

"That said, despite the lack of detail and a concrete

timeline for even signing an interim trade deal, progress does

at least appear to be being made. As ever, the caveat here is

the unpredictable nature of the White House."

In commodities, prices for livestock and grains, which have

been highly sensitive to any the trade tensions, were subdued

across the board.

Soybean futures Sv1 were little changed on lack of

follow-through interest after rallying as much as 1% on

Thursday. Prices of lean hogs, which are expected to be in high demand

in China amid a deadly swine fever outbreak, also managed only

modest gains before settling near recent lows on Thursday.

Crude oil was also lower with U.S. West Texas Intermediate

(WTI) crude CLc1 losing 22 cents to $56.93 per barrel. Brent

was down 11 cents at $62.18. O/R

Safe haven gold, which tends to rise during times of

uncertainty, was a tad firmer at $1,469.2 per ounce XAU= ,

having hit a five-week low of $1.460.7 on Thursday.

As investors wound back their buying in safe assets, the

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