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Asian stocks rise on dovish Fed comments

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Bond market sell-off slows, concerns over fiscal health

persist

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Weak job openings data, Fed's dovish comments reinforce

rate cut

bets

(Changes headline, updates markets)

By Gregor Stuart Hunter

SINGAPORE, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Asian stocks moved higher

in early trading on Thursday as dovish comments from Federal

Reserve officials soothed investor nerves at a time of

heightened concerns over global growth and a selloff in bond

markets.

Australian shares advanced 0.8%, recovering from

their biggest one-day sell-off since April, while the Nikkei 225

rose 1.2%.

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

gave up early gains and was last down 0.2%,

dragged lower by losses in China. The Shanghai Composite

fell 1.6% and was on track for a third day of declines after a

report in Bloomberg News that financial regulators are preparing

cooling measures for the market.

Financial markets have started September in a downbeat

mood, with a sell-off in longer-dated bonds dousing investor

confidence ahead of critical U.S. non-farm payrolls on Friday.

An auction of 30-year Japanese government bonds later today will

test global debt markets' appetite for super-long fixed income.

Overnight, the selloff in bond markets slowed, but concerns

about the fiscal health of major economies from Japan to Britain

and the United States kept long-dated borrowing costs pinned

near multi-year highs.

Investors got a timely boost to sentiment after Federal

Reserve officials, including Governor Christopher Waller,

expressed support for rate cuts in the months ahead.

Furthermore, President Donald Trump's pick to fill an open

seat on the Federal Reserve Board, Stephen Miran, said he would

work to preserve the central bank's independence.

U.S. stock futures were up 0.1% as investors took

heart from the Fed's dovish comments, drawing buyers into

beaten-down equities.

"We got one or two days of weakness but the dip-buyers have

stepped in," said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney.

"Many people are looking for this weakness in September to be a

buying opportunity", with economic growth still resilient, he

added. "This is a good backdrop for equities."

Market bets of a rate cut at the Fed's meeting later this

month were also supported by weaker-than-expected job openings

data in the latest "JOLTS" report on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve's "Beige Book" painted a mixed picture

of U.S. economic health, which appeared to underscore monetary

policymakers' concerns. Analysts at ING described the report as

quite "bleak" and noted that it was "littered with tariff

warnings on prices."

Traders are now pricing in a 96.6% probability of a cut to

interest rates at the Fed's September meeting, according to the

CME Group's FedWatch tool.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes

rose to 4.2226% compared with its U.S. close of 4.211% on

Wednesday. The two-year yield, which rises with

traders' expectations of higher Fed funds rates, touched 3.6187%

compared with a U.S. close of 3.612%.

The dollar was flat against the yen at 148.13,

remaining within the trading range it has sat in since the

beginning of August.

The European single currency was down 0.1% at

$1.1652, while the dollar index, which tracks the

greenback against a basket of currencies of other major trading

partners, was up 0.1% at 98.217.

In commodities markets, Brent crude dipped 0.5% to

$67.29 a barrel.

Precious metal prices nudged lower, with spot gold

off 0.8% at $3529.94 per ounce after hitting a record on

Wednesday.