Global Markets: Asia stocks cautious on trade talks; euro under pressure
By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares nudged higher on Wednesday amid hints of progress in the Sino-U.S. trade saga, while the dollar hit two-month highs on the euro as investors wagered on a dovish outcome from the European Central Bank's coming policy meeting

By Wayne Cole
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares nudged higher on Wednesday amid hints of progress in the Sino-U.S. trade saga, while the dollar hit two-month highs on the euro as investors wagered on a dovish outcome from the European Central Bank's coming policy meeting.
Sentiment had been helped by a Bloomberg report that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would travel to Shanghai next week for meetings with Chinese officials.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Tuesday called it a good sign and said he expected Beijing to start buying U.S. agriculture products soon.
Japan's Nikkei <.N225> added 0.4% in early trade, while Australian stocks <.AXJO> rose 0.6%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> gained 0.04%.
Not so welcome was news the U.S. Justice Department was opening an antitrust investigation of major digital tech firms and possible anticompetitive practices.
The DoJ cited concerns about "search, social media, and some retail services online" -- an apparent reference to Alphabet Inc
Facebook reports results on Wednesday and Amazon and Alphabet on Thursday.
Nasdaq futures
The news took a little of the gloss off a solid overnight session for Wall Street, where upbeat quarterly reports from Coca-Cola and United Technologies helped ease some concerns about earnings. [.N]
The Dow <.DJI> had ended Tuesday up 0.65%, while the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 0.68% and the Nasdaq <.IXIC> 0.58%.
Stocks are just a whisker from all-time highs buoyed by expectations of a wave of policy stimulus by global central banks and a resulting sharp decline in bond yields.
The ECB is thought likely to at least offer a nod to easier policy at its meeting on Thursday.
Futures
EURO BREAKS DOWN
The prospect of wide scale central bank largesse helped take the sting out of the IMF's latest downgrade to its global growth forecasts.
While yields on two-year Treasuries
In currencies, the dollar got a hand up from a deal to end the U.S. budget impasse, while the euro suffered a bout of nerves in case the ECB takes a more dovish turn.
The single currency was down near two-month lows at $1.1148
The dollar nudged up on the yen to 108.23
Sterling loitered at $1.2435
Boris Johnson is set to become Britain's new prime minister later on Wednesday, but investors are no clearer on whether he would lead the country to a no-deal exit or find a compromise.
"His grip on power will be weak, given the status of a minority government," noted analysts at NAB.
"In our view, Johnson's desire to push for Brexit, deal or no deal, increases the chance of an early general election and some possibly nasty GBP outcomes."
The dollar's gains weighed on gold, which fell back to $1,416.76 per ounce
Oil prices firmed after the head of U.S. Central Command said the United States may have taken down a second Iranian drone over the Strait of Hormuz last week. [O/R]
Brent crude
(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
also read

France, Germany to agree to NATO role against Islamic State - sources | Reuters
By Robin Emmott and John Irish | BRUSSELS/PARIS BRUSSELS/PARIS France and Germany will agree to a U.S. plan for NATO to take a bigger role in the fight against Islamic militants at a meeting with President Donald Trump on Thursday, but insist the move is purely symbolic, four senior European diplomats said.The decision to allow the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to join the coalition against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq follows weeks of pressure on the two allies, who are wary of NATO confronting Russia in Syria and of alienating Arab countries who see NATO as pushing a pro-Western agenda."NATO as an institution will join the coalition," said one senior diplomat involved in the discussions. "The question is whether this just a symbolic gesture to the United States

China's Xi says navy should become world class | Reuters
BEIJING Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for greater efforts to make the country's navy a world class one, strong in operations on, below and above the surface, as it steps up its ability to project power far from its shores.China's navy has taken an increasingly prominent role in recent months, with a rising star admiral taking command, its first aircraft carrier sailing around self-ruled Taiwan and a new aircraft carrier launched last month.With President Donald Trump promising a US shipbuilding spree and unnerving Beijing with his unpredictable approach on hot button issues including Taiwan and the South and East China Seas, China is pushing to narrow the gap with the U.S. Navy.Inspecting navy headquarters, Xi said the navy should "aim for the top ranks in the world", the Defence Ministry said in a statement about his visit."Building a strong and modern navy is an important mark of a top ranking global military," the ministry paraphrased Xi as saying.