Asia Morning Call-Global Markets

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** indicates closing price

All prices as of 18:22 GMT

EQUITIES

GLOBAL - Global shares rose on Tuesday, driven by a recovery on Wall Street, where investors are focused on earnings reports from the U.S. megacaps, and the yen hit multi-year lows against the dollar and the euro.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe EURONEXT:IACWI rose 1.05% by 10:46 a.m. (1446 GMT), pulling away from Friday's two-month low.

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NEW YORK - The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended lower on Friday as Netflix NFLX.O shares weighed, but American Express AXP.N kept the Dow afloat after quarterly earnings from both companies, while growing pessimism that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates soon also dented sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI rose 211.02 points, or 0.56%, to 37,986.40, the S&P 500 SPX lost 43.89 points, or 0.88%, to 4,967.23 and the Nasdaq Composite IXIC lost 319.49 points, or 2.05%, to 15,282.01.

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LONDON - European shares logged their best day in six weeks on Tuesday, driven by the retail and technology sector as investors found comfort in upbeat corporate updates, while the UK's FTSE 100 index hit its all-time peak.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index SXXP jumped 1.1% boosted by technology shares (.SX8P) that advanced 2.6% as SAP SAP reported a 24% jump in first-quarter cloud revenue to 3.93 billion euros ($4.19 billion), buoyed by demand for its enterprise resource planning software.

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TOKYO - Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Tuesday, buoyed by Wall Street's rally overnight, although concerns about big tech earnings and tensions in the Middle East capped gains.

The Nikkei NI225 ended the day up 0.3% at 37,552.16. notching a second consecutive session of gains after slumping to a 10-week low on Friday.

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SHANGHAI - China stocks closed down on Tuesday, dragged lower by cyclical shares such as metals, while technology companies boosted Hong Kong shares.

Non-ferrous metals companies 0000811 led the declines in China, slumping 4.5%, while coal-related stocks (.CSI000820) dropped 2.4%.

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AUSTRALIA - Australian shares extended gains on Tuesday, as gains in heavyweight financials overshadowed a drop in miners due to lower commodity prices, and easing fears of a major escalation in the Middle East conflict.

The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index XJO closed 0.5% higher at 7,683.5 points. The benchmark closed 1.1% higher on Monday.

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SEOUL - South Korean shares erased early gains to end lower on Tuesday, as battery makers dropped, while broader market focus was on earnings releases of major companies later in the week.

The benchmark KOSPI KOSPI closed down 6.42 points, or 0.24%, at 2,623.02.

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FOREIGN EXCHANGE

NEW YORK - he yen dropped to multi-year lows against the U.S. dollar and euro on Tuesday, keeping investors on heightened intervention watch ahead of this week's Bank of Japan meeting, while dovish policy maker comments left sterling near its weakest in months.

The dollar index also dropped after the PMI data, down 0.4% at 105.68 DXY.

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SHANGHAI - China's yuan weakened slightly against the dollar on Tuesday to a five-month low, after its central bank set the official guidance rate at the weakest level in nearly two months.

The yuan USDCNY was trading at 7.2447 per dollar at 0318 GMT, only 7 pips weaker than the previous close, after earlier hitting a 5-month low of 7.2455.

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AUSTRALIA - The Australian dollar strengthened on Tuesday as risk appetite continued to recover from a frenetic flight to safety last week, but its upside could be limited as traders brace for a key local reading on inflation.

The Aussie AUDUSD gained 0.2% to $0.6463, having rebounded 0.5% overnight to recover some of last week's drop of 0.7%. It managed to stand above the 10-day moving average of $0.6454 for the first time since April 10, with resistance around $0.6505.

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SEOUL - South Korean shares erased early gains to end lower on Tuesday, as battery makers dropped, while broader market focus was on earnings releases of major companies later in the week.

The won ended onshore trade USDKRW at 1,378.3 per dollar, 0.07% higher than its previous close at 1,379.2.

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TREASURIES

NEW YORK - U.S. Treasury yields dipped on Tuesday after data showed that U.S. business activity cooled in April to a four-month low, though trading ranges remained relatively tight before gross domestic product and inflation data later this week.

Benchmark 10-year note yields US10Y were last down 4 basis points on the day at 4.584%.

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LONDON - Euro zone government bond yields were steady on Tuesday, as traders digested mixed Purchasing Managers' Index data from the euro area that did not offer any new hints on how fast the European Central Bank could lower borrowing costs.

Germany's 10-year bond yield (DE10YT=RR), the benchmark for the euro zone bloc, was up 1.5 basis points (bps) at 2.51%.

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TOKYO - Japanese government bond yields ticked higher on Tuesday, with the two-, five- and 30-year yields reaching levels not seen in more than a decade, as traders looked ahead to the Bank of Japan's policy-setting meeting at the end of this week.

The 10-year JGB yield (JP10YTN=JBTC) rose 0.5 bps to 0.885%, hovering at a five-month peak.

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COMMODITIES

GOLD - Gold prices steadied on Tuesday after hitting a more than two-week low on diminishing fears about an escalation of tensions in the Middle East, with investors awaiting key economic data for further clarity on the timeline on U.S. interest rate cuts.

Spot gold GOLD was little changed at $2,325.80 per ounce by 1:40 p.m. ET (1740 GMT) after earlier hitting its lowest since April 5. Bullion's March to April rally drove it up by nearly $400 to an all-time high of $2,431.29 on April 12.

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IRON ORE - Iron ore futures prices extended losses for a second straight session on Tuesday to their lowest level in nearly one week on signs of softening in the steel market due to subdued demand in top consumer China.

The most-traded September iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) TIO1! ended daytime trade down 1.91% at 849 yuan ($117.17) a metric ton, its lowest since April 17.

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BASE METALS - Copper prices retreated on Tuesday on profit-taking by funds and hedging by producers after a speculation-led rally sent the market to a two-year high.

Three-month copper HG1! on the London Metal Exchange fell 2% to a session low of $9,627 a metric ton before narrowing losses to 1% at $9,726.50 by 1625 GMT.

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OIL - Oil prices rose a dollar a barrel on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar index fell to its lowest in over a week and as oil investors shifted focus away from geopolitical issues in the Middle East to the state of global economies.

Brent crude BRN1! futures rose $1.29, or 1.5%, to $88.29 a barrel by 2:00 p.m. ET (1800 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CL1! futures rose $1.32, or 1.6%, to $83.22 a barrel.

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PALM OIL - Malaysian palm oil futures extended gains on Tuesday amid hot weather in key producer Malaysia, with strong export data and firmer rival oil prices lending support.

The benchmark palm oil contract FCPO1! for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed up 25 ringgit, or 0.63%, at 3,969 ringgit ($830.68) a metric ton.

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RUBBER - Japanese rubber futures reversed a two-day climb to close lower on Tuesday as automobile price wars and overhanging automobile supply weighed on investor sentiment.

The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for September delivery TRB1!, TRB1! closed down 5.6 yen, or 1.77%, at 311.4 yen ($2.01) per kg.

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