May 8 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian

markets.

Asian markets reach the mid-point of the week still sailing in

fairly calm waters, although signs that the recent decline in

U.S. bond yields and the dollar is losing steam could be about

to suck the life out of the recent rally in risk assets too.

There is some evidence over the last 24 hours of this

playing out - Hong Kong stocks finally posted a down day on

Tuesday, and broad Asian and emerging market equity indexes

essentially ended the day flat.

That may be nothing more than rational profit-taking and

position-trimming. The Hang Seng had been on its longest daily

winning streak since 2018, and earlier on Tuesday the MSCI Asia

ex-Japan and Emerging Market indexes had hit new 15-month and

two-year highs, respectively.

Japanese markets, meanwhile, are once again dancing to their

own tune with the yen back on the slide after last week's

suspected intervention, which has helped lift the Nikkei to its

highest since April 15 and close to the 39,000 point mark.

There doesn't appear to be any obvious local catalyst on

Wednesday to give markets much impetus one way or the other,

with only unemployment and trade figures from the Philippines

and trade data from Taiwan on the calendar.

The yen and Indonesian rupiah could get a steer from their

respective central bank chiefs - Bank of Japan governor Kazuo

Ueda speaks at a seminar hosted by Japan's Yomiuri newspaper,

and Bank Indonesia governor Perry Warjiyo addresses the current

economic situation in a briefing with the press.

With the yen falling back toward 155.00 per dollar, Japan's top

currency diplomat Masato Kanda warned on Tuesday that Tokyo may

have to take action against any disorderly, speculative-driven

FX moves.

Meanwhile, investors got another reminder on Tuesday - as if

they needed one - of frayed Sino-U.S. relations when TikTok and

its parent company ByteDance sued in U.S. federal court seeking

to block a law signed by President Biden that would force the

divestiture of the popular short video app or ban it.

This comes the same day Chinese President Xi Jinping left France

after a two-day trip during which he offered no major

concessions on trade or foreign policy, even as President

Emmanuel Macron pressed him on market access.

French and Chinese companies concluded some agreements on

Monday ranging from energy, finance and transport, but most were

agreements to cooperate or renewed commitments to work together.

Nothing significant enough to suggest icy trade tensions between

China and the West are about to thaw.

On the corporate front, Japanese automaker Toyota releases full

year 2024 earnings. Analysts are expecting record-breaking

results from the world's top-selling automaker, lifted by demand

for hybrids.

Other big firms reporting include Mitsubishi and Yamaha.

Here are key developments that could provide more direction

to markets on Wednesday:

- Bank of Japan Governor Ueda speaks

- Taiwan trade (April)

- Toyota earnings (FY 2024)