GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares edge up but growth worries cap gains

* MSCI Asia ex-Japan +0.17%
* U.S. Treasury yields up from 3-month lows
* Lingering worries over trade, growth lift yen, gold
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

By Andrew Galbraith
SHANGHAI, June 4 (Reuters) - Shares in Asia inched higher
and safe-haven assets gave up some overnight gains on Tuesday,
as investors paused for breath after a volatile Wall Street
session, but deeper concerns about growth have capped broader
improvements in risk sentiment.
Investor focus has shifted to monetary policy this week with
Australia's central bank all but certain to cut interest rates
to a fresh low at its meeting on Tuesday and India also tipped
to ease on Thursday.
Most equity markets in the region shook off Wall Street's
overnight weakness, which took the Nasdaq into correction
territory. In early trade, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific
shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.17%.
"Sentiment remains downbeat and the weakness across the
board in purchasing managers indices, published Monday, helped
to feed the anxiety surrounding the outlook for global growth,"
analysts at ANZ said in a morning note.
U.S. manufacturing growth slowed further in May to its
weakest pace in more than two-and-a-half years, defying
expectations for a modest rebound. Australian shares .AXJO were up 0.24% ahead of the
expected interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia, as
the bank hopes to revive growth. But Japan's Nikkei .N225 gave up early gains to turn down
0.29%.
On Monday, the Nasdaq .IXIC fell 1.61% to 7,333.02, taking
it more than 10% lower than its May 3 closing record, as fears
that U.S. antitrust regulators could target Alphabet, Facebook
and Amazon.com dragged down shares in those companies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI eked out a 0.02%
gain to 24,819.78 and the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.28% to 2,744.45.
The cautious gains in equities on Tuesday were accompanied
by a rise in the yield on the safe-haven benchmark 10-year U.S.
Treasury US10YT=RR , which had dipped to 2.0607%, its lowest
level since September 2017, on Monday. On Tuesday morning in
Asia, 10-year notes yielded 2.0934%, up from a U.S. close of
2.081% on Monday.
The two-year yield US2YT=RR turned higher, rising to
1.8597% Tuesday compared with a U.S. close of 1.84%. The yield
had fallen earlier, reflecting raised expectations of a more
accommodative Federal Reserve. St. Louis Fed president James
Bullard on Monday said that a U.S. interest rate cut "may be
warranted soon" given risks to global growth posed by trade
tensions and weak U.S. inflation. In further signs that investors' nerves remain unsettled,
gold XAU= gained 0.12% to $1,326.41 per ounce, just off a
three-month high, and Japan's yen strengthened, with the dollar
dropping 0.18% against the Asian safe-haven to 107.87. JPY=
GOL/
"Risk aversion has also been seen with the yen carry trade
unwinding as the markets comprehend that the U.S. technology
containment strategy towards China is unlikely to reverse,"
analysts at Jefferies said in a note.
"In the short term, positioning has become so bearish that
'a ceasefire' could spark a risk rally."
The euro EUR= was 0.08% stronger at $1.1249, while the
dollar index .DXY , which tracks the greenback against a basket
of six major rivals, was up 0.05% at 97.186.
Crude prices rebounded after dropping on Monday on mounting
trade worries.
U.S. crude CLc1 gained 0.3% to $53.41 a barrel and Brent
crude LCOc1 rose 0.18% to $61.39 per barrel.