JFrog stock rises as Cantor Fitzgerald maintains Overweight rating after strong Q2
* MSCI Asia ex-Japan +0.1%; Nikkei +0.5%
* Sterling gives back gains after Brexit deal rally
* China Q3 GDP growth could be weakest in 27-1/2 years
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Andrew Galbraith
SHANGHAI, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Asian stocks edged higher on
Friday, tracking the global lift in sentiment after the UK and
the European Union struck a long-awaited Brexit deal, but
concern about the Chinese economy is likely to cap gains with
data expected to show weaker growth.
Sterling, which had enjoyed its biggest rising streak since
October 1985 and hit a five-month high on the back of the Brexit
deal, gave up ground on Friday morning amid doubts that the
agreement would receive parliamentary approval. The pound eased
0.18% to buy $1.2865. GBP=
"Whatever was agreed last night with the EU still has to go
through the British parliament ... The uncertainty surrounding
that still hasn't changed one iota," said James McGlew,
executive director of corporate stockbroking at Argonaut in
Perth, Australia.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was up about 0.1% in early trade, echoing Wall
Street's small gains. Australian shares .AXJO were off 0.6%,
while Japan's Nikkei .N225 added 0.5%.
Equity markets had enjoyed a bounce from the initial Brexit
news, with the S&P 500 .SPX briefly topping 3,000 points for
the first time in more than three weeks.
Investors were also encouraged by upbeat earnings from
Netflix and Morgan Stanley, but poor results from International
Business Machines Corp and weak U.S. economic data weighed.
Housing starts, industrial production and mid-Atlantic
factory output all fell short of economist expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI gained 0.09% to
27,025.88, the S&P 500 .SPX finished up 0.28% at 2,997.97 and
the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC rose 0.4% to 8,156.85.
On Friday morning, S&P 500 e-mini stock futures ESc1 , were
down a hair at 2,997.
China is also in focus in Asia with the world's
second-largest economy expected to post its weakest economic
growth in at least 27-1/2 years when it releases gross domestic
product data at 0200 GMT. Weak numbers could raise pressure on
Beijing to introduce new stimulus measures to counter the
effects of a long-running trade war with the United States.
McGlew said expectations for a further slowdown in China had
been largely priced in by the market already.
"Unless it's a diabolically low number, I don't really think
it's going to have too much of an impact on prices today. But we
can't price that uncertainty," he said, referring to further
developments in the trade spat between Washington and Beijing.
On Thursday, China said that it hoped to reach a phased
agreement in its trade dispute with the U.S. as soon as
possible. Reflecting the cautious mood, the yield on benchmark 10-year
Treasury notes US10YT=RR fell slightly to 1.7483% compared
with a U.S. close of 1.755% on Thursday.
In the currency market, the dollar was flat against the yen
at 108.65, while the euro EUR= was up 0.04% on the day at
$1.1126.
The dollar index .DXY , which tracks the greenback against
a basket of six major rivals, was barely lower at 97.596.
Oil was mixed ahead of the China data, with U.S. crude
CLc1 up 0.1% to $53.99 a barrel, but Brent crude LCOc1
easing by 0.13% to 59.83%.
Spot gold XAU= was flat, trading at $1,491.73 per ounce.