Asian stocks stagnate in the face of trade concerns, Europe on the rise By Reuters

By Tomo Uetake and Noah Sin

TOKYO / HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian stock markets have been mixed on Friday as investors fear the trade war will grow longer and others hope the world's two largest economies will reach a settlement.

European stock markets seemed slightly more optimistic. In early trading, futures for the pan-region and German gained 0.4%, and London futures rose 0.3%.

In Asia, the broadest index of Asia Pacific equities, MSCI, excluding Japan, rebounded from a record low in four months. The index is still on track for a third consecutive weekly loss, down 0.8% so far this week.

Chinese equities rallied as some investors took advantage of the low share price. The gain of 0.1% and the CSI 300 first-rate rose 0.4% in the afternoon trade. Hong Kong added 0.3%.

Japan's average was 0.3% lower.

On Wall Street, the decline of 1.1%, the loss of 1.2% and the decline of 1.6%, while traders gave up cyclical names because they feared that the growing trade war between the United States and China are holding back global economic growth.

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Washington's complaints against Huawei Technologies could be resolved under a trade deal between China and China, while calling the Chinese telecom giant "very dangerous."

Jasper Lawler, head of research at the London Capital Group, said "the fact that Trump is still talking about a trade deal offers some optimism to the markets."

"Traders have focused on the damage done to the global economy that a prolonged trade war could cause, so breaking bad news raises sentiment cautiously," he wrote in a published note. Friday, in which he commented on the increase in the European opening.

Last week, Washington effectively banned US companies from dealing with Huawei, the world's largest manufacturer of network equipment, citing national security concerns.

The US Commerce Department announced on Thursday that it is proposing a new rule to impose anti-subsidy duties on products from countries that undervalue their currencies, which could penalize Chinese products.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce replied on Thursday, its spokesman said: "If the United States wants to continue trade negotiations, they must show sincerity and correct their bad actions."

Masanari Takada, a multi-asset strategist at Nomura Securities in Tokyo, said the US-China trade dispute "has not yet completely shaken investor sentiment, so there is no panic for sale. But at the same time, the sentiment will probably remain weak. "

While flight conditions to safety dominated world markets, the index reached 2.292%, its lowest level since mid-October 2017, with the main elements of the yield curve being reversed. The last yield was 2.3237%.

Chotaro Morita, chief fixed income strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities, said the sharp falls shown in a new US manufacturing survey appeared to reflect expectations of a break in US trade negotiations and China.

"In the last two years, the PMI has had a very small difference from raw data, such as industrial production, so if this is true this time, we could see factory production plummet to negative levels ( compared to a year ago). "

"Since the global financial crisis, US production has declined only once: from 2015 to early 2016, when the shale industry was hit hard. Markets could begin to fear a global slowdown, as they did at the end of last year ".

The, which measures it against six major currencies, hit a high of 98,371 on Thursday, US time. It was last quoted at 97.847, little changed the day.

On Thursday, the euro reached the lowest levels of May 2017, as the recovery in euro-zone activity was weaker than expected. On Friday morning, the currency was unchanged at $ 1,1181.

Sterling is again weakened on Thursday, as pressure on British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced the date of her departure, after a violent reaction as a result of her ultimate plans to exit Britain from Britain. European Union.

The pound was traded for the last time at $ 1.2663, changed little the same day. The pound sterling suffered Thursday for the 14th consecutive day of losses against the euro, its longest run of losses ever recorded. It stood at 0.8829 pound for the euro.

The other major currencies were relatively calm. The dollar stood at 109.59 yen, flat on the day.

In commodity markets, oil prices fell on Thursday, as trade tensions weakened demand prospects as crude benchmarks posted their largest daily decline in six months.

Oil prices stabilized on Friday, due to OPEC supply cuts and tensions in the Middle East.

The last time it had been seen at 58.58 dollars a barrel, up 1.16% after Thursday's fall of 5.7%, which reached its lowest level in two months. futures contracts rebounded 1.18% to settle at $ 68.56 a barrel after dropping 4.6% in the previous session.