* 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