*

Fed outlook main theme for investors

*

Honda ( HMC ) shares surge on Nissan ( NSANF ) merger plans

*

Dollar, US yields near milestone highs

By Rae Wee

SINGAPORE, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Asian stocks edged up on

Tuesday, though moves were subdued in a holiday-curtailed week,

while the greenback held near a two-year high helped by elevated

U.S. Treasury yields as investors prepared for fewer Federal

Reserve rate cuts in 2025.

After a recent run of central bank decisions, this week is

much quieter, with Japan's October meeting minutes and

Australia's December minutes released on Tuesday morning,

providing more details on their decisions to hold rates at the

time. There are no Fed speeches and U.S. data is of secondary

importance.

Otherwise the themes were largely the same, with the

dollar's strength a burden for commodities and gold.

It is also a headache for emerging market countries from

Brazil to Indonesia that are having to intervene to stop their

currencies from falling too far and stoking domestic inflation.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

rose 0.35% early in the session, tracking Wall

Street's overnight gain.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.37%, while the broader Topix

ticked down 0.03%.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States

(CFIUS) has told the White House it is unable to reach a

consensus on national security risks involved in Nippon Steel's ( NISTF )

bid for U.S. Steel, the Washington Post reported

on Monday.

Shares of Nippon Steel ( NISTF ) last traded 1.5% higher.

Also in Japanese companies news, Honda's ( HMC ) stock

price surged nearly 17%, while that of Nissan's ( NSANF ) eased

0.07%.

The two are in talks to merge by 2026, they said on Monday,

a historic pivot for Japan's auto industry that underlines the

threat Chinese electric vehicle makers now pose to the world's

long-dominant legacy car makers.

In China, the CSI300 blue-chip index rose 0.5%,

while the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.47%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 0.7%.

Still, investors remain cautious on the outlook for the

world's second-largest economy as it continues to battle a

stuttering recovery despite Chinese leaders pledging more

support.

"China faces significant challenges entering 2025. The

ongoing real estate crisis has shattered consumer confidence

while a potential trade war with the United States could trigger

the worst growth slowdown in decades," said Ronald Temple, chief

market strategist at Lazard.

"Investor expectations have been raised and dashed more than

once in China in recent years, and 2025 may prove to be no

different. China's economic and market outlook might largely

depend on the speed and magnitude of government reforms."

FED OUTLOOK

In the broader market, expectations of fewer U.S. rate cuts

in 2025 remained top of investors' minds.

Markets are now pricing in just about 35 basis points of

easing for 2025, which has in turn sent U.S. Treasury yields

surging and the dollar to new highs.

The two-year Treasury yield last stood at

4.3345%, while the benchmark 10-year yield steadied

near a seven-month high at 4.5825%.

"Like markets, the Fed will need to consider U.S. policies

on tariffs and immigration in its inflation and growth outlook.

We believe the subtle slowing in the U.S. labor market will

still be the Fed's paramount concern," said analysts at Citi

Wealth.

"While always uncertain, our base case expectation for a

3.75% policy rate is unchanged. It's a far cry from the 1.7%

U.S. policy rate average of the past 20 years."

Ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's return to the

White House in January, global central banks have urged caution

over their rate paths due to uncertainty on how his planned

tariffs, lower taxes and immigration curbs might affect policy.

Data on Monday showed U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly

weakened in December as the post-election euphoria fizzled and

concerns about future business conditions emerged.

In currencies, the dollar index held near a two-year

high at 108.11, having climbed more than 2% for the month thus

far.

The euro eased 0.04% to $1.0401, while the yen

languished near a five-month low at 157.11 per dollar.

Japan's Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato on Tuesday

reiterated Tokyo's discomfort over excessive foreign exchange

moves and put speculators on notice that authorities are ready

to act to stabilise a faltering yen.

The strong dollar combined with high bond yields to weigh on

gold, which stood at $2,615.59 an ounce after slipping 1%

last week.

Oil prices edged higher, with Brent crude futures

rising 0.37% to $72.90 a barrel, while U.S. crude gained

0.35% to $69.48 per barrel.