Asian shares found some footing on Friday after a turbulent week as China hinted at more support for its economy, amid growing expectations of aggressive stimulus from all the major central banks. Sentiment got a lift when China's state planner said Beijing would roll out a plan to boost disposable income, though details were lacking. A bounce in U.S. and European stock futures also helped, with E-Minis for the S&P 500 up 0.55% and the EUROSTOXX 50 rising 0.5%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan responded by edging up 0.2%, though it was still down 1% for the week. Japan's Nikkei recouped early losses to be 0.09% firmer, while Shanghai blue chips rose 0.7%. The Sino-U.S. trade dispute remained a drag after Beijing on Thursday vowed to counter the latest tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese goods. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he believed China wanted to make a deal and that the dispute would be fairly short, despite it already lasting more than a year. With no settlement in sight, investors have hedged against a global slowdown by buying bonds. Yields on 30-year debt hit an all-time low of 1.916% to be down 27 basis points for the week, the sharpest such decline since mid-2012. That meant investors were willing to lend the government money for three decades for less than the overnight rate. Such is the gloom that surprisingly strong U.S. retail sales came and went with no impact on the bond rally. The dollar could make little headway on the safe-haven yen, though, and idled at 106.20 yen. The collapse in bond yields continued to make non-interest paying gold look relatively more attractive and the metal held at $1,521.20, just off a six-year peak. Oil prices were trying to bounce after two days of sharp losses. Brent crude futures added 46 cents to $58.69, while U.S. crude rose 59 cents to $55.06 a barrel.
