* MSCI Asia ex-Japan barely higher, Nikkei up 0.22%
* Europe seen opening sideways
* Investors await central bank decisions, key data
* Sterling weaker after PM Johnson election call
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Andrew Galbraith
SHANGHAI, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Asian shares trod water on
Friday as investors awaited key central bank policy meetings
next week amid signs of slowing global growth, while sterling
extended its slide on a fresh bout of Brexit anxiety.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was up just 0.05%, having spent the day
oscillating between small losses and gains.
Europe looked set to be similarly directionless, with
pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures STXEc1 up 0.06% at 3,613,
German DAX futures FDXc1 down 0.03% at 12,864.5 and FTSE
futures FFIc1 up 0.11% at 7,312 in early trade.
Chinese blue-chips .CSI300 were up by 0.56% and Hong
Kong's Hang Seng .HSI fell 0.28%.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 finished up 0.22%, while the
Australian share market .AXJO managed a 0.68% rise.
The British pound, which fell 0.51% on Thursday after
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's call for a general
election on Dec. 12, extended its slide, edging down to $1.2845.
Johnson conceded on Thursday for the first time that he
would not meet his "do or die" deadline to leave the European
Union next week. The continued uncertainty over Brexit comes against the
backdrop of persistently sluggish global growth.
A Reuters poll of economists showed that most think a
steeper decline in global growth is more likely than a
synchronised recovery, despite central bank easing. In his last meeting as president of the European Central
Bank, Mario Draghi left ECB policy and guidance unchanged, but
advised his successor to "never give up" on propping up the
eurozone economy in the face of a worsening outlook. The major focus for investors is next week's U.S. Federal
Reserve policy meeting at which it's almost certain to cut
interest rates for a third time this year. "It's less about the Fed going to cut, it's more about if
they're going to signal the pace, the magnitude of cuts," said
Kay Van-Petersen, global macro strategist at Saxo Bank in
Singapore.
Investors will also scrutinise a raft of data that will
follow the Fed decision, he said. "It's really all about next
week."
The Bank of Japan is also set for a two-day meeting ending
Oct. 31. Its decision is expected to be a close call, though
sources told Reuters the BOJ is leaning toward keeping monetary
policy steady. On Wall Street, strong quarterly results from Microsoft
MSFT.O and PayPal PYPL.O helped lift the Nasdaq, which
closed up 0.81% at 8,185.80.
The S&P 500 .SPX rose 0.19% on the day, but the Dow Jones
Industrial Average .DJI finished 0.11% lower at 26,805.53,
weighed down by 3M MMM.N after the company cut its full-year
earnings forecast. Investors remain cautious despite risk assets gains in
recent weeks supported by apparent progress in Brexit
negotiations and China-U.S. trade talks.
"On the whole, we conclude that we have not entered into a
new 'risk on' phase from a broader trend perspective just yet,"
said George Davis, chief technical strategist at RBC Dominion
Securities.
Investors are also nervous before a summit in Chile where
U.S. President Donald Trump hopes to finalise a partial trade
deal with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
Rattling confidence was a speech by U.S. Vice President Mike
Pence on Thursday, which criticised China's handling of the Hong
Kong protests and its treatment of Muslim Uighurs in the
Xinjiang region. Those comments sent the S&P 500 index briefly
lower. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR
fell to 1.7574% on Friday compared with its U.S. close of 1.766%
on Thursday. The two-year yield US2YT=RR , which rises with
traders' expectations of higher Fed fund rates, was at 1.5777%,
down from a U.S. close of 1.582%.
Expectations that the Fed will cut rates helped to lift gold
prices. The precious metal XAU= was last up 0.09% to $1,504.62
per ounce. GOL/
The dollar was slightly higher against the yen at 108.66
JPY= and the euro EUR= was unchanged on the day at $1.1104.
The dollar index .DXY , which tracks the greenback against
a basket of six major rivals, nudged 0.04% higher to 97.669.
Oil prices were lower after rising on Thursday on a surprise
drop in U.S. crude inventories and the hopes for
market-supporting actions by OPEC and its allies.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was down 0.60% to
$55.89 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 dipped
0.55% to $61.33 per barrel.
Gold and 2 year yields https://tmsnrt.rs/2PitwT5
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