In This Article:
* ECB pledges to keep rates at least until mid-2019; euro dives
* Trump to impose $50 bln tariffs on China; China vows to confront
* BOJ stands pat as expected, Kuroda press conference coming up
By Tomo Uetake
TOKYO, June 15 (Reuters) - Asian shares wobbled on Friday as investors braced for U.S. tariffs against China, while the euro flirted with two-week lows after a cautious European Central Bank indicated it would not raise interest rates for some time.
U.S. President Donald Trump has made up his mind to impose "pretty significant" tariffs and will unveil a list targeting $50 billion of Chinese goods on Friday, an administration official said. Beijing has warned that it was ready to respond.
While it is not clear when Trump will activate the measures, rising Sino-U.S. trade tensions will put additional pressure on China's economy, which is starting to show signs of cooling under the weight of a multi-year crackdown on riskier lending.
Analysts said that although the expected announcement would likely not be a total surprise to markets -- an initial list was released by Washington a few months ago -- it would still make investors concerned that the window for averting a trade war may be closing.
The Asia Pacific MSCI index ex-Japan edged down 0.3 percent, with many regional markets shrugging off a strong close on Wall Street. But Japan's Nikkei average and Australian shares advanced 0.3 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
"The implementation of tariffs on China is one of several fronts that the U.S. is battling on the issue of trade," said Tai Hui, chief APAC market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, referring to the Trump administration's tough stance toward Canada and Europe.
"This battleground could potentially expand into the auto sector given the U.S. investigation into auto imports. This is likely to weigh on market sentiment over the summer."
The euro was headed for its worst weekly loss in 19 months after the ECB signalled on Thursday it will keep interest rates at record lows into at least mid-2019, even as it pledged to end its massive bond purchase scheme by the end of this year.
The common currency shed 1.9 percent to the dollar after the rate comments, in its sharpest daily fall in almost two years since Brexit vote shock in 2016.
In Asian trade on Friday, the euro eased 0.1 percent to $1.1555, its lowest level since May 30.
The dollar index against a basket of six major peers gained about 0.2 percent to 94.996, its highest level in 2-1/2-weeks, after rallying more than 1 percent the previous day.