GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares inch up as investors await Trump-Xi meeting

* MSCI Asia ex-Japan adds 0.02%; Nikkei off 0.3%
* Gold rebounds amid trade uncertainty
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

By Andrew Galbraith
SHANGHAI, June 28 (Reuters) - Share markets in Asia edged
higher early on Friday morning as investors clung on to hopes
that a highly anticipated meeting between U.S. President Donald
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping this weekend could lead
to an easing of trade tensions.
Yet the gains were small and underscored uncertainty over
whether the talks will produce definitive progress in ending the
year-long trade war between the world's two largest economies.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Thursday that
Trump has agreed to no preconditions for the meeting, set to
take place on Saturday at the G20 summit in Japan, and is
maintaining his threat to impose new tariffs on Chinese goods.
Kudlow also dismissed a Wall Street Journal report that
China was insisting on lifting sanctions on Chinese telecom
equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd HWT.UL as part of a
trade deal and that the Trump administration had tentatively
agreed to delay new tariffs on Chinese goods. In early trade, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.02%, following on from
modest gains in global equity markets overnight. U.S. stock
futures, the S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 , were up 0.2%.
But Australian shares .AXJO lost 0.21%, while Japan's
Nikkei stock index .N225 was 0.3% lower.
"Central expectations for the G20 meeting between Trump and
Xi are that negotiations will resume, additional U.S. tariffs
will be delayed, China will buy more U.S. goods and talks over
tech-trade will gain renewed focus," analysts at ANZ said in a
morning note.
"However, as the difficulty of resolving economic
aspirations between the two countries is herculean, markets
remain cautious."
On Thursday, the S&P 500 .SPX rose 0.38% and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC added 0.73%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI eased 0.04%, dragged down by losses in Boeing Co BA.N
shares following a Reuters report that the U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration identified a new safety risk in the planemaker's
grounded 737 MAX aircraft. Rising equity market indicators were accompanied by a minor
pull-back in fixed income, with the yield on benchmark 10-year
Treasury notes US10YT=RR rising to 2.0192%, compared with a
U.S. close of 2.005% on Thursday.
The two-year yield US2YT=RR was also up, at 1.7469%, but
remained near recent lows, reflecting near certainty that the
Federal Reserve will cut benchmark interest rates in July.
U.S. yields had fallen on Thursday, driven lower by ebbing
optimism over a Sino-U.S. trade deal. US/
The dollar was 0.07% lower against the safe-haven yen at
107.70 JPY= , and the euro edged up 0.03% to buy $1.1371.
The dollar index .DXY , which tracks the greenback against
a basket of six major rivals, was virtually flat at 96.180.
In commodity markets, U.S. crude CLc1 lost 0.03% to $59.41
a barrel and global benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 added 0.08% to
$66.60 per barrel.
The uncertainty over global trade saw gold rebound after
dipping below $1,400 per ounce on Thursday. Spot gold XAU= was
last traded at $1,414.72 per ounce, up 0.38%. GOL/