(Updates prices at 0500 GMT)

By Rae Wee

SINGAPORE, July 19 (Reuters) - Asian shares are set to

end the week on a sour note, as uncertainty across major

economies added to headwinds for investors even as the global

rate easing cycle gets under way.

It has been a turbulent week in markets, with a tech

sell-off sparked by deepening Sino-U.S. trade tensions,

uncertainty over U.S. President Joe Biden's fate in the

presidential race, disappointing Chinese economic data and a

lacklustre third plenum outcome casting a shadow over the global

mood.

In the foreign exchange market, Tokyo's recent bouts of

intervention also kept traders on edge.

"We could just be getting a taste of things to come. And

that is more turbulence," said Matt Simpson, senior market

analyst at City Index.

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

slid 1.56% and was headed for its worst week in

three months with a nearly 3% loss.

Japan's Nikkei fell to a more than two-week low and

was last down 0.09%, extending its sharp 2.4% fall from the

previous session.

The Nikkei was on track to lose 2.7% for the week, also its

steepest weekly decline in three months.

European shares looked set for a mixed start, with EUROSTOXX

50 futures up 0.08%, while FTSE futures fell

0.4%.

S&P 500 futures tacked on 0.16%, while Nasdaq futures

gained 0.3%.

Technology stocks continued to struggle, with South Korea's

tech-heavy KOSPI index and Taiwan stocks both

falling 1.5% and 2%, respectively.

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix ( HXSCF ) slid more than

1%, though Japan's Tokyo Electron ( TOELF ), a chipmaking

equipment manufacturer, rebounded some 2.5%, after an 8.75%

tumble on Thursday.

Shares of Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest

contract chipmaker, fell 2.7%, even after the company posted

better-than-expected earnings on Thursday and raised its

full-year revenue forecast.

In China, investors were left disappointed over the lack of

details provided on the implementation steps for achieving

economic policy goals at the conclusion of its closely watched

plenum on Thursday.

Chinese officials on Friday acknowledged that the sweeping

list of economic goals contained "many complex contradictions",

pointing to a bumpy road ahead for policy implementation.

Chinese blue-chips were last a touch higher,

though the CSI300 Real Estate index slid more than

2%, as an anaemic property sector continued to weigh on China's

growth outlook.

The Shanghai Composite Index edged 0.08% lower,

while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 2.1%.

"Apart from very broad-brush platitudes devoid of stimulus,

economic policy references of quality over quantity may also

imply willingness to stomach slower overall growth," said Vishnu

Varathan, chief economist for Asia ex-Japan at Mizuho Bank.

The onshore yuan was weaker on the day at 7.2666

per dollar.

RATES VIEW

The euro was last 0.08% lower at $1.0887, having

fallen 0.4% in the previous session after the European Central

Bank (ECB) kept rates on hold as expected but left the door open

to a September cut as it downgraded its view of the euro zone's

economic prospects.

"The policy statement gives little away, offering no

meaningful changes from June - continuing to stress a

data-dependent approach to policy setting," said Nick Rees, FX

market analyst at MonFX.

"We still think that a September cut remains the base case."

The dollar was meanwhile on the front foot, distancing

itself from a four-month low hit earlier in the week against a

basket of currencies.

Sterling dipped 0.05% to $1.2939, while the Australian

dollar fell 0.12% to $0.6698.

The dollar was partially underpinned by strong U.S.

manufacturing data and jobless figures that did little to

suggest a significant slowing in the labour market, though

traders are still pricing in a September rate cut from the

Federal Reserve.

The yen fell 0.1% to 157.55 per dollar, though was

headed for a slight weekly gain, helped by suspected bouts of

intervention from Japanese authorities to prop up the currency

and as an acceleration in the core inflation last month kept

alive expectations that the Bank of Japan could soon raise

interest rates.

In commodities, oil prices fell. Brent crude futures

eased 0.46% to $84.72 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures

slid 0.59% to $82.33 per barrel.

Gold fell 0.8% to $2,424.93 an ounce, retreating from

a record high hit earlier this week on the prospect of lower

global interest rates.