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Asian shares suppressed as China trade considered, yen steadies after recent falls

Asian shares were controlled on Thursday as investors awaited China trade information to determine the health of the Chinese economy, while the yen steadied after 3 days of declines as Japan talked up a potential currency intervention.

Later on in the day, the Bank of England (BoE) will choose its rate of interest policy, with all eyes on the potential customers of a June rate cut following the over night relocation by Sweden's Riksbank to cut rates, which underlined Europe's divergence from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan increased 0.1%, hovering not far from a 15-month high hit previously in the week after Fed Chair Jerome Powell restated a stance for policy easing later this year.

Financiers will be concentrating on the U.S. consumer inflation data for April due next Wednesday after three straight prints of upside surprises for a better sense of the direction of the Fed's policy.

Chinese bluechips increased 0.6% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index got 0.7% thanks to a 2% bounce in technology shares and a recovery in Chinese residential or commercial property developers.

The CSI realty index increased 0.9%, recovering some of the large losses a day earlier.

Japan's Nikkei increased 0.3%. Nasdaq stock futures alleviated 0.1%, dragged lower by Uber, which fell 5.7% over night as the ride-sharing business provided a downbeat forecast after a surprise quarterly loss.

A very first rate cut by the Riksbank has not sufficed to further push the bullish sentiment. Eyes are on the Bank of England, said experts at ING in a note to customers.

Considering that Powell's dovish position simply last week, markets will listen carefully for a comparable direction as the Fed. This If a similar turn, means that markets might deal with a surprise towards more dovishness is not shown in this BoE conference.

The Japanese yen steadied at 155.56 per dollar after falling for 3 sessions. It rose more than 3% recently after Japanese authorities most likely intervened in the market twice to stem its fast decreases.

On Thursday, the top currency diplomat Masato Kanda stated there is no limitation for reserves in currency intervention, keeping traders on edge, while minutes from the Bank of Japan's April meeting showed policymakers turned extremely hawkish, helping the yen consistent.

Japan's genuine incomes in March fell 2.5% from a year earlier, marking decreases for 2 years, an argument for policymakers to not hike aggressively.

In the Treasuries market, yields were little bit changed after edging up the day previously, with movements most likely to be muted ahead of the U.S. inflation report next week. Two-year yields held at 4.8449%, while the 10-year yield was at 4.4963%, having risen 3 basis points overnight.

Oil rates were somewhat higher on Thursday, having bounced off two-month lows the previous session. Brent futures rose 0.2% to $83.76 a barrel, while U.S. crude acquired 0.3% to $79.24 a barrel.

Gold prices were 0.1% higher at $2,311.23 per ounce.

(source: Reuters)