In This Article:
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* MSCI Asia-Pacific index up 0.05 pct, Nikkei up 0.25 pct
* Lingering trade woes continue to curb risk appetite
* Dollar index reaches 2-week peak amid trade tensions
* Crude dips after rally, copper headed for steep weekly loss
By Shinichi Saoshiro
TOKYO, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Asian stocks inched up on Friday following a tech-led rise on Wall Street, although the latest exchange of trade threats between Beijing and Washington capped gains and drove safe-haven flows to the dollar, which hovered near a two-week high.
Investors also remain cautious ahead of the July U.S. jobs report due later on Friday, which will give a reading on the health of the world's largest economy and possible clues about the pace of Federal Reserve interest rate rises.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.05 percent. The index was down more than 0.6 percent for the week on U.S.-China trade tensions.
The trade war between the world's top two economies intensified midweek after U.S. President Donald Trump raised pressure on China by proposing a higher 25 percent tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.
"The equity markets now have time to regroup and settle down after yesterday's slide. But the U.S.-China trade conflict involves the epicentre of the region and this will continue to weigh psychologically on Asian equities," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management in Tokyo.
The Shanghai Composite Index swerved in and out of the red in early trade, and was last up 0.1 percent, after dropping 2 percent the previous day.
Japan's Nikkei added 0.25 percent and South Korea's KOSPI was 0.45 percent higher. Tech-heavy Taiwan stocks outperformed thanks to the gains on Wall Street, rising 0.7 percent.
Technology stocks pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq higher on Thursday, driven by Apple shares as the iPhone maker became the first publicly traded U.S. company worth a trillion dollars.
In foreign exchange, the dollar index against a basket of six major currencies extended its overnight gains and rose to a two-week high of 95.209.
Trade tensions were seen driving demand for the U.S. currency, with a slide by the pound providing an extra lift.
Sterling dropped more than 0.8 percent on Thursday despite the Bank of England lifting interest rates, after Governor Mark Carney said monetary policy needed to "walk not run" and expressed concern about the risks of a cliff-edge Brexit.
The euro was slightly lower at $1.1584 following a loss of 0.6 percent the previous day.