Interactive Brokers shares jump as it secures spot in S&P 500
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* Report on Huawei licenses casts shadow on Sino-U.S. trade
war
* Chinese yuan stabilizes, sterling hit 2-year low vs euro
* U.S. Treasury yields rise; Gold holds near 6-year high
By Tomo Uetake
TOKYO, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Asian shares on Friday caught the
tail of a Wall Street rally aided by China's solid export
figures and a stabilisation in the yuan, but fresh concerns
about Sino-U.S. trade ties capped the region's gains.
Weighing on risk appetite was a report from Bloomberg that
Washington is delaying a decision about licenses for U.S. firms
to restart trade with Huawei Technologies HWT.UL . That sent U.S. stock futures ESc1 down as much as 0.6% in
early Asian trade. They were last 0.4% lower on the day.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was 0.2% higher but on track to lose 2.3% for
the week.
Japan's Nikkei average .N225 gained 0.6%, while Australian
stocks .AXJO added 0.2% and South Korean shares .KOSPI
climbed 1.1%.
Chinese stocks saw early gains evaporate. The benchmark
Shanghai Composite .SSEC and the blue-chip CSI300 .CSI300
were down 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively, while Hong Kong's Hang
Seng .HSI shed 0.2%.
On Wall Street on Thursday, the S&P 500 .SPX surged 1.9% -
its largest one-day gain in about two months- while the Dow
.DJI and the Nasdaq .IXIC also advanced well more than 1%.
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However, optimism was dented by the Bloomberg report, which
added to concerns that deterioration in U.S.-China relations
could put additional strain on an already fragile global
economy.
"The news about Huawei triggered the rise in the yen," said
Junichi Ishikawa, senior foreign exchange strategist at IG
Securities in Tokyo. "This is a reminder that the U.S.-China
trade dispute remains a risk, and this risk is not receding."
The yen strengthened as much as 0.4% against the dollar to
105.70 yen on worries triggered by the report on Huawei.
U.S. data pointed to a robust labour market as the number of
Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits
unexpectedly fell last week, allaying some worries about a
recession and helping Treasury yields rise. But others remained anxious on the outlook.
"About a month ago, I had a feeling the global economy could
pick up later this year but now downside risks are deepening,
raising the chance of a recession," said Yoshinori Shigemi,
global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yield US10YT=RR closed 2.4
basis points higher at 1.715% after hitting 1.595% on Wednesday,
which was its lowest level since October 2016. It last quoted at
1.700%.
The offshore yuan was stable versus the dollar even after
China's central bank set the yuan's daily midpoint CNY=PBOC at
7.0136 per dollar, its weakest level since April 2, 2008.
The currency fetched 7.0500 per dollar in onshore trade
CNY=CFXS , while offshore yuan CNH=D4 traded at 7.0758,
steady on the day.
But traders continued to pay close attention to U.S.-China
trade headlines.
"The U.S.-China trade war is very serious. My hope is that
the United States and China can find enough to agree on so that
they can contain the push-and-shove that occurs when the
emerging power meets the dominant power. The alternative is not
pleasant," said veteran investor Dan Fuss, vice chairman of
Loomis Sayles.
The dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback versus
a basket of six major currencies, was little changed at 97.552
but on track for its biggest weekly decline since late June.
Sterling GBP=D4 briefly hit its two-year low against the
euro overnight after the Financial Times reported that Prime
Minister Boris Johnson was preparing to hold an election in the
days after the deadline for Britain to leave the European Union
on Oct. 31.
The pound was last quoted at 92.24 pence per euro EURGBP= ,
down 0.1% on the day, and was traded against the dollar at
$1.2135, steady on the day.
In commodity markets, oil prices on Friday gave up some the
previous day's stellar gains, but expectations of more
production cuts by OPEC were expected the underpin prices. O/R
Brent crude LCOc1 retreated 0.3% to $57.19 per barrel and
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 crude eased 0.2% to
$52.43.
Spot gold XAU= held near a more than six-year peak touched
Wednesday, with rising 0.5% to $1,507.40 an ounce as investors
sought the safety of the precious metal.