In This Article:
* European shares head lower, U.S. set to open weaker
* Asian shares down for the week but global markets higher
* China Evergrande misses interest payment due Thursday
* U.S. Treasury yields at highest in nearly three months
By Tommy Wilkes, Alun John and Anushka Trivedi
LONDON/HONG KONG, Sept 24 (Reuters) - European shares slipped on Friday but held their gains for the week as uncertainty around the fate of debt-ridden China Evergrande weighed on investor sentiment.
The regionwide STOXX 600 index slipped 0.78% after a three-day run of gains. Britain's FTSE 100 and Germany's also weakened.
Still, European shares look set to end the week higher despite Monday's sharp selloff, as investors turned more positive on the outlook for global growth following the U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting and on hopes the Evergrande crisis could be contained.
It was a different story in Asia where MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed on the day but has fallen 0.7% this week and is poised for its third weekly loss in a row.
Japan's Nikkei rose 2%, catching up with global gains after the market was closed for a public holiday.
Chinese blue chips recovered most of their early losses after a cash injection from the central bank brought its weekly injection to 270 billion yuan ($42 billion) - the largest since January.
U.S. stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, were down 0.34%.
Evergrande's debt crisis continues to rattle confidence.
The property developer's shares fell 11% on Friday, extending losses following a Reuters report that some offshore bondholders had not received interest payments by the Thursday deadline. It rallied 17.6% the previous day after the company said it had agreed to settle interest payments on a domestic bond.
Global investors have been on tenterhooks as debt payment obligations of Evergrande, labouring under a $305 billion mountain of debt, triggered fears its malaise could pose systemic risks to China's financial system.
Ray Ferris, chief investment officer for South Asia at Credit Suisse, said that while investors were jittery about China's prospects due to woes in the property sector and a slew of regulatory changes, there was positive sentiment elsewhere.
"Growth in the large developed economies is above trend, likely to remain above trend and monetary policy remains very supportive of asset prices likely all the way through the middle of next year," he said.
"Every once in a while shocks to the system give us a correction, but these are more shallow than in the last several decades because of the weight of money out there that needs a home."