(Refiling to clarify state bank activity in spot yuan market in 13th paragraph)
* Ex-Japan Asian shares up 0.3 pct, China shares fragile
* Despite EU-US trade agreement, Sino-US outlook negative
* Yuan near 13-month low, China state banks buy yuan forwards
* European shares seen flat to 0.3 pct higher
By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, July 27 (Reuters) - Asian stocks edged higher on Friday on signs of rapprochement between the United States and Europe over trade issues and the yuan staunched losses on buying by Chinese state banks, though concerns about the Sino-U.S. tariff dispute tempered overall optimism.
European shares are expected to be firm, with spread-betters looking at flat to higher openings of 0.3 percent in Britain's FTSE .FTSE , France's CAC .FCHI and Germany's DAX .GDAXI .
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS ticked up 0.3 percent, though Chinese shares underperformed with the CSI300 .CSI in the red for most of the day.
"Markets are worried that the Chinese economy will slow as trade frictions with the U.S. intensify. We think if the U.S. slaps additional tariffs on $200 billion goods from China, that would shave off China's growth by 0.5 percentage point," said Shuji Shirota, head of macroeconomic strategy at HSBC in Tokyo.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 eked out a 0.1 percent gain though it was capped by worries that the Bank of Japan could scale down its asset purchase at its upcoming policy review next week.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe, ACWI, .MIWD00000PUS was up 0.05 percent after hitting four-month highs on Thursday, when European car maker shares .SXAP gaining 2.6 percent after the European Union and the United States agreed to negotiate on trade, easing fears of a Transatlantic trade war.
U.S. industrial shares .SPLRCI also made gains, rising 0.8 percent though the S&P 500 Index .SPX dipped 0.30 percent on Thursday, due to a 19 percent dive in Facebook FB.O on its earnings showing slowing usage. that pushed down the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC 1.01 percent, other U.S. tech firms held firm, with Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares gaining 3.2 percent in after-market hours following its stellar earnings. 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield US10YT=RR edged up to 2.9840 percent, its highest level in 1-1/2 months, on receding worries about trade tensions.
Yet Asian shares were more subdued as a heated trade dispute between Washington and Beijing have shown few signs of abating.
"Now that Washington does not need to use its energy to fight with Europe, it could increase pressure on China," said Nobuhiko Kuramochi, chief strategist at Mizuho Securities.
So far this month, MSCI China A shares .MICNA0000PUS have fallen 2.6 percent, taking the biggest hit from U.S. President Donald Trump's threats on tariffs and other issues among major markets, compared to 3.3 percent gains in MSCI ACWI.
The Chinese yuan eased, on course to mark its seventh week of losses, although the losses were cushioned by Chinese state banks' swapping of dollars for yuan in the forward market. Traders suspected they had also been selling spot dollars. onshore yuan traded at 6.8065 per dollar CNY=CFXS , near Tuesday's 13-month low of 6.8295.
The Thomson Reuters/HKEX Global CNH index .RXYH , which tracks the offshore yuan against a basket of currencies on a daily basis, fell to its lowest levels since May last year, having fallen 5.2 percent from a two year high hit in mid-May.
The euro traded little changed at $1.1647 EUR= , having fallen 0.73 percent on Thursday after the European Central Bank signalled no change in its timetable to move away from ultra low rates or end its bond purchase program.
The dollar slipped 0.1 percent to 110.98 yen JPY= as the yen got a lift from rise in Japanese bond yields. The 10-year government bond yield JP10YTN=JBTC hit one-year high of 0.105 percent.
In commodities, oil prices extended their recovery, after Saudi Arabia suspended oil shipments through a strait in the Red Sea following an attack on two oil tankers.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 traded flat at $74.52 per barrel, having gained 2.0 percent so far this week.
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http://reut.rs/2sSBRiD
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