Bitcoin price today: surges to $122k, near record high on US regulatory cheer
* Stocks in Asia move a notch higher on hopes of U.S.-China
* But investors remain on edge amid mixed messages from
Trump
* Oil eases slightly before OPEC meeting
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Stanley White and Noah Sin
TOKYO/HONG KONG, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Stock markets in Asia
gained on Thursday on hopes that China and the United States may
soon seal a preliminary deal to end their 17-month trade war,
but conflicting signals from U.S. President Donald Trump kept a
lid on investor optimism.
Hopes that an agreement would soon emerge stemmed from a
Bloomberg report on Wednesday that the two sides were close to a
"phase one" deal, and U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks that
the talks were going "very well" after he had earlier said it
might take until late 2020 to reach and accord.
"My base case scenario is the two sides reach some deal. The
pressure for a deal is immense simply because of the economic
slowdown in both countries," said Shane Oliver, head of
investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital Investors
in Sydney.
"However, we see increased volatility because policy
uncertainty has become a constant."
As investors tilted towards optimism riskier assets rose and
safe havens like the Japanese yen weakened.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS gained 0.4%. Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225
gained 0.7%, Australian shares .AXJO were up 1%, and in China,
both blue chips .CSI300 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index .HSI
rose 0.3%.
U.S. stock futures ESc1 fell 0.04% on Thursday in Asia
after the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.63% on Wednesday.
Analysts warn that more market turbulence is possible given
Sino-U.S. negotiations are very fluid.
If China and the United States cannot reach an agreement
soon, the next important date to watch is Dec. 15, when
Washington is scheduled to impose even more tariffs on Chinese
goods.
Traders are also bracing for the closely-watched U.S.
non-farm payrolls report due Friday to determine how well the
U.S. economy is holding up amid a global slowdown.
Trading will likely be thin and there will be little money
chasing these unpredictable trade headlines as the year-end
approaches, said Robert Carnell, chief economist and head of
research for Asia-Pacific at ING in Singapore.
"The motivation now (for investors) is not to lose any money
if you're under water, and if you've made money, keep it that
way," he said. "If you haven't positioned yet you are not going
to in the next couple of weeks."
The yen JPY= traded flat 108.85 per dollar, ceding some of
the previous day's gains as positive signs about the trade
dispute hurt demand for safe-haven currencies.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR
fell slightly to 1.7603% in Asia, retracing some of the gains
made in the previous session.
U.S. crude CLc1 edged 0.22% lower to $58.21 a barrel on
Thursday as a 3% rally overnight showed signs of fading.
However, prices could be supported if the Organization of
the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and fellow producers
including Russia, approve deeper crude output cuts when they
meet in Vienna on Thursday and Friday.
(Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)