In This Article:
* MSCI Asia-Pacific index up 0.02 pct, Nikkei adds 0.1 pct
* Spreadbetters expect European stocks to open higher
* 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 limited gains and drove safehaven flows to the dollar, which brushed 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.
Spreadbetters expected European stocks to focus more on the overnight rise by U.S. shares and open higher, with Britain's FTSE rising 0.55 percent, Germany's DAX gaining 0.35 percent and France's CAC adding 0.5 percent.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan swerved in and out of the red and was last up 0.02 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 was last up 0.08 percent, after dropping 2 percent the previous day.
Japan's Nikkei crawled up 0.1 percent, with focus turning to the Aug. 9 trade talks between Washington and Tokyo.
Masahiro Ayukai, senior strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, said Japanese stocks could face even more pressure from the trade talks in addition to the already present worries about tariffs the U.S. threatens to impose on China.
Tech-heavy Taiwan and South Korean stocks outperformed thanks to the gains on Wall Street, rising 0.65 percent and 0.55 percent, respectively.
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 95.211 before easing slightly to 95.131.