* MSCI ACWI near record high after strong U.S. data
* China, Japan stocks dip ahead of long holiday
* Amazon up after the bell on stellar earnings
* Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
* World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, April 30 (Reuters) - Asian shares slipped on Friday
but world stocks held near a record high after strong U.S.
economic data and the Federal Reserve's commitment to continue
supporting the economy fuelled investors' appetite for risk.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS dropped 0.5% with both Japan and China falling
ahead of a long weekend. Both markets will be closed through
Wednesday.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 fell 0.4% while China's CSI 300
.CSI300 lost 0.5% in early trade.
MSCI's broadest gauge of world stocks covering 50 markets,
ACWI .MIWD00000PUS , was little changed, a day after it hit a
historic high, extending its monthly gains to 5.1%.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 .SPX also closed at an
all-time high while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC hit a intraday
record before paring some gains.
For both ACWI and S&P500, analysts are now expecting the
earnings in the next 12 months to recover to above their
pre-pandemic levels.
Amazon AMZN.O reported stellar results late on Thursday,
lifting its shares by 2.4% in an after-hours trade. Data on Thursday also showed U.S. economic growth
accelerated in the first quarter, fuelled by massive government
aid to households and businesses. New York City aims to "fully reopen" on July 1 after more
than a year of closures and capacity restrictions, Mayor Bill de
Blasio said, buttressing hopes for recovery in the battered
service sector. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that "it is not
time yet" to begin discussing any change in policy after the
U.S. central bank left interest rates and its bond-buying
programme unchanged, despite taking a more optimistic view of
the country's economic recovery. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 1.690%, its highest
in more than two weeks, and last stood at 1.641% US10YT=RR .
"For now we are likely to see strong economic data from the
U.S. and that means we need to be wary of further rise in U.S.
bond yields, and the dollar/yen," said Toshiya Nakamura, chief
manager of forex trading at Mitsubishi Trust Bank.
In the currency market, the yen was listless at 108.72 per
dollar JPY= , having hit a two-week low of 109.22 as higher
U.S. bond yields helped the dollar.
The positive risk mood saw the euro extending its bull run
to a two-month high of $1.2150 in the previous session and it
last stood at $1.2117 EUR= . With 3.3% gains so far this month,
it is on course for its biggest monthly rise in 9 months.
The Canadian dollar extended its gains to a three-year high
of C$1.22715 per U.S. unit CAD=D4 , boosted by the Bank of
Canada's tapering of its bond-buying programme and higher
commodities including oil and lumber.
Oil prices held near six-week highs as strong U.S. economic
data, a weak dollar and an expected recovery in demand
outweighed concerns about higher COVID-19 cases in Brazil and
India.
Brent LCOc1 slipped 0.4% to $68.30 per barrel in Asia,
after having hit a high of $68.95 on Thursday while U.S. West
Texas Intermediate (WTI) eased 0.3% to $64.80 per barrel CLc1 .
"Strong U.S. data is supporting the market. But on the other
hand, given that oil producers have capacities to boost outputs
further, there will be resistances around $65 for WTI and $70
for Brent," said Tatsufumi Okoshi, senior commodity strategist
at Nomura Securities.
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Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
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(Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)