*

Trump tariff deadline looms on August 1, with Fed, BOJ

also

meeting

*

Global stocks hit record high this week on trade deal

optimism

*

Alphabet earnings buoy Wall Street; Amazon, Apple, Meta

due next

week

By Kevin Buckland

TOKYO, July 25 (Reuters) - Asian shares eased from highs

on Friday, with Japanese markets retreating from a record peak,

as investors locked in profits ahead of a crucial week that

includes U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff deadline and a

host of central bank meetings.

The dollar gained against the yen after bouncing off a

two-week low on Thursday, helped by some firm U.S. economic

data, while Japan's currency was weighed down by political

uncertainty amid media reports Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba

will step down.

Benchmark Japanese government bond yields

hovered just below the highest since 2008.

Japan's broad Topix index, which had jumped more

than 5% over the previous two sessions to reach an all-time

high, pulled back 0.7%. The Nikkei slipped 0.5% from

Thursday's one-year high.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.5% and mainland Chinese

blue chips declined 0.2%. Australia's equity benchmark

declined 0.5%.

At the same time, U.S. S&P 500 futures added 0.2%,

after the cash index edged up slightly to a new record

closing high overnight, buoyed by robust earnings from Google

parent Alphabet. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also

marked a record high.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe

edged down 0.1%, but remained just below an all-time peak from

Thursday. The index is on course for a 1.3% weekly advance,

buoyed in large part by optimism for U.S. trade deals with the

European Union and China, following an agreement with Japan this

week.

Next week, in the U.S. alone, investors need to contend with

Trump's August 1 deadline for trade deals, a Federal Reserve

policy meeting, the closely watched monthly payrolls report, and

earnings from the likes of Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft.

The Bank of Japan has its own policy announcement on

Thursday, and Prime Minister Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party

holds a meeting the same day.

That's after the European Central Bank held rates steady on

Thursday, pausing its easing campaign as it waits to assess any

impact from U.S. tariffs.

The euro ended the session down 0.2% against a buoyant

dollar, and was little changed on Friday at $1.1743.

The U.S. currency advanced 0.3% to 147.37 yen,

adding to Thursday's 0.4% gain.

Trump kept the pressure on Fed Chair Jerome Powell to cut

rates after a rare presidential visit to the central bank on

Thursday, although he said he did not intend to fire Powell, as

he has frequently suggested he would.

U.S. 10-year Treasury yields edged down to 4.39% on Friday,

effectively erasing an advance on Thursday.

Equivalent Japanese government bond yields eased 0.5 basis

point to 1.595%, just off this week's high of 1.6%, a level last

seen in October 2008.

JGB yields have been rising on concerns the political scale

is tilting more towards fiscal stimulus, after big gains for

opposition parties backing consumption tax cuts in Sunday's

upper house election. Pressure is building on the more fiscally

hawkish Ishiba to quit after his coalition lost its majority in

the vote, after doing the same in lower house elections last

October.

Gold was flat at around $3,368 per ounce, keeping it

on course for a 0.5% rise this week.

Brent crude futures gained 0.3% to $69.35 a barrel,

while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures added 0.2% to

$66.18 per barrel.