Asia stocks take comfort in China trade data, yuan fix

Asian shares were trying to rally on Thursday as Beijing reported better trade numbers while also limiting the fall in its yuan, offering temporary relief from fears of a global currency war.

Data showed Chinese exports rose 3.3 percent in July from a year earlier, when analysts had looked for a fall of 2 percent. Imports also declined by less than expected, suggesting some resilience to the drawn-out Sino-US tariff war.

Beijing helped by fixing the yuan at a firmer level than many had feared, even though it was beyond 7 per dollar level for the first time since the global financial crisis.

Markets reacted by taking back a little of their recent hefty losses. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan bounced 0.6 percent, though it was still down more than 7 percent over the past two weeks.

Japan's Nikkei edged up 0.6 percent, and away from seven-month lows, while Chinese blue chips rose 0.9 percent. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 firmed 0.2 percent.

Investors have increasingly come to fear the trade war will prove protracted enough to tip the world into recession, and have piled into bonds and gold as a hedge.

"Financial markets are raising risks of recession," said JPMorgan economist Joseph Lupton.

"Equities continue to slide and volatility has spiked, but the alarm bell is loudest in rates markets, where the yield curve inverted the most since just before the start of the financial crisis."

Yields on US 30-year bonds dived as deep as 2.123 percent overnight, not far from an all-time low of 2.089 percent set in 2016. Ten-year yields dropped further below three-month rates, an inversion that has reliably predicted recessions in the past.

The latest spasm began when central banks in New Zealand, India and Thailand surprised markets with aggressive easings, while the Philippines is expected to cut later on Thursday.

Fed to the rescue?

"The decision by these APAC central banks to "go hard and early" has provided further fuel to concerns of a global recession," said Rodrigo Catril, a senior FX strategist at National Australia Bank. "This also means that the Fed will need to come to the rescue."

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans signaled on Wednesday he was open to lower rates to bolster inflation and counter risks to economic growth from trade tensions.

Futures moved to price in a 100 percent probability of a Fed easing in September and a near 24 percent chance of a half-point cut. Some 75 basis points of easing is implied by January, with rates ultimately reaching 1 percent.

Dire data on German industrial output stoked concerns Europe might already be in recession and pushed bund yields deeper into negative territory.

All of which fueled speculation that the major central banks would also have to take drastic action, if only to prevent an export-crimping rise in their currencies.

The Bank of Japan would be under particular pressure as its yen has gained sharply from the flood to safe havens, leaving it at 106.20 per dollar from 109.30 just a week ago.

The euro has also bounced to $1.1210, from a two-year trough of $1.1025, while the US dollar index has backtracked to 97.523, from a recent peak of 98.932.

New Zealand's dollar was still picking up the pieces after sliding as much as 2.6 percent on Wednesday when the country's central bank slashed rates by a steep 50 basis points and flagged the risk of negative rates.