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Japan's Topix index rises above 3,000 for first time

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Nasdaq futures rise, on track for third day of gains

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Markets eye dovish tilt at Fed as Miran appointed

(Recasts intro, adds new quote, gold futures)

By Gregor Stuart Hunter

SINGAPORE, Aug 8 (Reuters) -

Asian markets made an uneven recovery on Friday, with

Japan's broadest stock index hitting a record high on strong

corporate earnings and expectations that the U.S. would remove

overlapping

tariffs on the country's goods.

But declines on the Hong Kong, South Korea and

Australia bourses underscored fragile investor confidence after

a retreat on Wall Street, as traders weighed the impact of

appointments to the U.S. Federal Reserve on its policy

direction.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 2% and the Topix index

climbed more than 1% to a fresh record, trading above

3,000 for the first time.

Shares in SoftBank Group rallied as much as 11%

after the technology investor reported that it swung back to

profit in the first quarter. Sony Group ( SONY ) gained 6%,

adding to its earnings-fuelled 4.1% advance from Thursday.

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

slipped 0.6% with Hong Kong leading declines,

after U.S. stocks ended the previous session with mild losses

after nearing a one-week high.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would

nominate Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran to

fill a vacant seat at the Federal Reserve for a few months while

the White House seeks a permanent addition to the central bank's

governing board and continues its search for a new Fed chair.

"It locks in a vote for rate cuts at all the meetings

between now and the end of January," said Ray Attrill, head of

FX strategy at National Australia Bank in Sydney.

"Markets are already travelling with a very strong

expectation that there will be a rate cut," he added. "Though

there's a question mark over the whether he'll succeed in

ratification in time for the September meeting."

The market is also digesting a Bloomberg News report that

Fed Governor Christopher Waller is the top candidate to replace

Chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends on May 15, 2026.

Gold futures hit a record high after a report in the

Financial Times that the United States had imposed tariffs on

imports of 1-kg gold bars, which comprise the bulk of

Switzerland's bullion exports to the U.S., citing a letter from

Customs and Border Protection. Spot gold was 0.1% lower, with

bullion last trading at $3393.36 per ounce.

U.S. stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, were up

0.3%, while Nasdaq futures rose 0.4%, on track to extend

gains into a third day.

The rally for stocks comes "against the backdrop of an

emerging titanic dovish pivot at the Federal Reserve," said Tony

Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes

rose to 4.2442%, unchanged from the U.S. close on Thursday,

after weak demand at an auction of 30-year bonds, the latest in

a string of lacklustre sales this week.

The rally in Japanese stocks follows a mixed bag of earnings

reports for the country's biggest exporters, as some companies

such as Toyota Motor ( TM ) slashed their profit forecasts due

to U.S. tariffs, while Sony ( SONY ) and Honda ( HMC ) said the impact

would be less than feared.

As the effective date of recent U.S. trade duties arrived,

Tokyo's trade negotiator said the U.S. government on Thursday

promised it would fine-tune some of its overlapping tariffs on

Japanese goods to avoid the duties being paid on some products

twice.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.7%, with

technology shares leading declines and China's blue-chip CSI 300

index fluctuating between gains and losses, and last

up 0.1%. Australian stocks were 0.1% lower and Korea's

Kospi fell 0.7%.

The dollar rose 0.1% against the yen to 147.24.

Data on Friday showed Japanese household spending data rose

by a slower-than-anticipated 1.3%. The data is being closely

watched for clues on consumption as the Bank of Japan debates

the likelihood of resuming interest rate increases.

The European single currency dipped 0.1% to $1.1652,

having gained 2.13% in a month, while the dollar index,

which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies of

other major trading partners, was up 0.2% at 98.188.

In oil markets, Brent futures were unchanged at

$66.45 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures were little

changed at $63.81.