Asia stocks bounce after losses, dollar sags on weak US inflation data

Asian stocks bounced on Monday after three losing sessions, tracking a firmer Wall Street, while the dollar was weighed down by weak US inflation data which dampened prospects of another Federal Reserve interest rate hike later this year.

Investors awaited a batch of Chinese data due later in the session (0200 GMT), including industrial output and retail sales. The readings are expected to show continued solid growth but markets are edgy after softer-than-expected trade data last week.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.4 percent. The index had fallen for three straight days prior on escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea.

Australian stocks rose 0.2 percent and South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 climbed 0.7 percent.

Japan's Nikkei bucked the trend and fell 1.2 percent as a stronger yen overshadowed much better-than-expected second quarter economic growth.

The three major US  stocks indexes snapped three days of losses and ended higher on Friday, as investors bet on slower US  rate hikes following weaker-than-expected consumer price data. But gains were muted by increasingly aggressive exchanges between Washington and Pyongyang. [.N]
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Asian stocks retreat from highs after Trump tax plan

Asia stocks ticked down from a near two-year high on Thursday after a long-awaited U.S. tax plan failed to inspire investors, though sentiment remains supported by global growth prospects and receding worries about political risks in Europe.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.1 percent after hitting its highest level since June 2015 on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei dipped 0.3 percent.

U.S. President Donald Trump proposed slashing tax rates for businesses to 15 percent from the current 35 percent for public corporations and 39.6 percent for small businesses, and on overseas corporate profits returned to the country.

But the one-page plan offered no specifics on how it would be paid for without increasing the deficit, which many analysts think would be difficult to achieve.

"There were no specifics in terms of funding for the tax cuts. The announcement appeared many thins are still in flux," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 ended down 0.05 percent, failing to cling to earlier gains made on optimistic views on corporate earnings.

Overall profits of S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 11.8 percent in the first quarter, the most since 2011, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The world's share markets have been bolstered by relief over the first round of the French presidential election and also by signs of solid global economic growth in recent months.

The disappointment on the tax plan prompted fall in U.S. bond yields and the U.S. dollar.

The 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield slipped to 2.304 percent from two-week high of 2.350 percent touched earlier on Wednesday.

The euro traded at $1.0908 , having bounced back from Wednesday's low of $1.0856 and near its 4 1/2-month high of $1.09515 touched on Wednesday.

The ECB is scheduled to hold a policy meeting on Thursday, with the focus on the potential for a scaling back of monetary stimulus in the months ahead.
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