*

Japan's Nikkei underperforms as yen strengthens on

safe-haven

demand

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Appeals court reinstates duties a day after trade court

halted

them

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Analysts say court drama mostly just adds to market

uncertainty

By Kevin Buckland

TOKYO, May 30 (Reuters) - Stocks slipped in Asia on

Friday and the U.S. dollar drooped with Treasury yields as

investors digested an appeals court kept President Donald

Trump's tariffs in effect, a day after markets rallied on a

separate ruling blocking most of them.

Japan's Nikkei saw the most pronounced selling,

after experiencing the most pronounced buying on Thursday, with

moves in the exporter-heavy index exacerbated by the ebb and

flow in demand for the safe-haven yen.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

in Washington temporarily reinstated Trump's duties on Thursday

while it considers the government's appeal. On Wednesday, a

little-known trade court had unanimously ruled Trump overstepped

his authority, and tariffs were the jurisdiction of Congress not

the president.

Either way, senior Trump administration officials said they

were undeterred and expected either to prevail on appeal or to

employ other powers to ensure the tariffs remain.

The Nikkei dropped 1.7% in the Asian morning, putting it

basically back at Wednesday's closing level. The yen

strengthened about 2% from its low on Thursday to last change

hands at around 143.48 per dollar. A stronger yen

reduces the value of overseas revenues.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 1.4% and mainland China's

blue chip index eased 0.3% in early trading.

South Korea's KOSPI fell 0.5%.

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

was off 0.4%.

"Trump's trade agenda remains alive and kicking, with the

legal battle adding yet another layer of uncertainty," said

Rodrigo Catril, senior FX strategist at National Australia Bank.

"The only thing that looks more certain is more

uncertainty," which will lead to additional delays in investment

decisions and hiring, he said.

U.S. S&P 500 futures retreated 0.2%. The cash index

rose 0.4% overnight, but that was largely the effect of

resilient Nvidia ( NVDA ) financial results from after the

market close on Wednesday, to which Asian shares already had a

chance to react.

Pan-European STOXX 50 futures edged 0.1% lower.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was steady at

4.42% on Friday, following a 5.5 basis point slide on Thursday.

Safe-haven gold was little changed at $3,311 per ounce,

following a 0.8% advance in the previous session. Risk-sensitive

bitcoin slipped to a 10-day low of $104,714.35.

Both Brent and U.S. West Texas Intermediate

crude eased 0.3% early on Friday, to $63.97 and $60.75 per

barrel, respectively.

Despite the uncertainty injected by the courtroom drama, the

Trump administration said negotiations with top trading partners

continue unabated. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted during

an interview with Fox News that he is scheduled to have talks

with a high-level Japanese delegation later on Friday in

Washington.

Trump had already paused his "Liberation Day" tariff rates

on most trade partners for 90 days to July 9 and set a baseline

rate of 10% in the meantime in order to give time for some of

them to hammer out deals.

So far though, apart from a broad agreement with Britain,

deals remain elusive. Bessent said in the interview with Fox

News that talks with China are "a bit stalled," and may need the

direct involvement of Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to

get across the finish line.