SINGAPORE, July 30 (Reuters) - Oil traded near

seven-week lows on Tuesday as a softening demand outlook weighed

on commodities, while bond, currency and stock markets traded

cautiously ahead of central bank meetings in the U.S. and Japan

and a slew of major corporate earnings reports.

Brent crude futures hit $79.36 overnight as traders

focused on worries over Chinese demand rather than tensions in

the Middle East or Venezuela and turned sellers.

The S&P 500 steadied after a two-week downturn and

futures ticked 0.4% lower early in the Asia session with

the focus on two-day policy meetings in Washington and Tokyo

that wrap up with interest rate decisions on Wednesday.

Japan's Nikkei, which dropped nearly 6% last week,

was 0.7% lower in morning trade. MSCI's broadest index of

Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan also fell

0.7%.

Markets are pricing almost no chance of a U.S. rate cut this

week but have fully priced a 25 basis-point reduction in the Fed

Funds rate for September and so expect policymakers to sound

dovish.

In Japan a broader range of outcomes is on the table, with

markets pricing a near 60% chance of a 10 basis point rate hike

and expecting to hear about how the Bank of Japan plans to edge

its way out of an enormous bond-buying programme.

"The term 'calm before the storm' has been heard across the

floors," said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone in

Melbourne. "This is a day for position management and to review

broad exposures."

The dollar and yen were kept in fairly compact ranges and

took a breather after recent breakout moves.

The euro bought $1.0851 and gentle pressure

remained on the Australia dollar which has been dragged

lower by falling commodity prices. The Aussie, which bought

nearly $0.68 less than three weeks ago, traded at $0.6536.

The yen, which has rebounded sharply from a

38-year low of 161.96 per dollar hit early in July, hovered at

153.95 per dollar.

"We are at an interesting intersection for yen here," said

Nathan Swami, head of currency trading at Citi in Singapore,

with this week's central bank meetings possibly sketching a

shift in the rates outlook and the yen's trajectory.

"It is too early to tell if the factors driving yen weakness

have changed permanently. For now, this seems more like a

short-term correction to the USD/JPY higher trend, but we feel

there is downside risk that needs to be priced into a trade."

Later in the day Microsoft ( MSFT ) and chipmaker AMD

report earnings after the bell in New York and

preliminary CPI data is due in Germany and Spain.

Australian inflation data will also be released on Wednesday

and the Bank of England is priced for a roughly even chance of a

rate cut at its policy meeting on Thursday.

(Editing by Shri Navaratnam)