Aug 29 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian

markets.

Hold on to your hats, or prepare for lift off?

In the end, the much-anticipated release of Nvidia's ( NVDA ) second

quarter results on Wednesday is unlikely to push investors to

either extreme, but Asian markets on Thursday may still open on

the defensive.

The AI golden goose and world's second-most valuable company

reported second-quarter revenue of $30.04 billion, beating

estimates of $28.70 billion, and forecast third-quarter revenue

of $32.5 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of

$31.77 billion.

But that doesn't appear to have sufficiently impressed

investors who have gotten used to Nvidia's ( NVDA ) profits, revenue and

forecasts smashing forecasts, not just beating them.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares fell as much as 3.5% in volatile U.S.

after-hours trading, which should weigh on tech stocks and

equities more broadly at the open in Asia.

Or perhaps when the dust settles a little, investors in Asia

will look more favorably on what appears to be a pretty solid

set of results?

The backdrop to the trading day in Asia on Thursday was

already challenging - Wall Street had closed lower before

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) earnings on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq losing more than

1% and chip stocks down 1.8%, while the U.S. dollar and bond

yields climbed higher.

The dollar posted its biggest rise since early June, gaining

more than 0.5% against a basket of major currencies and

declining against emerging market currencies for a second day.

The Asia/Pacific calendar on Thursday is extremely light,

with only Japanese consumer confidence and capex data from New

Zealand likely to pique investors' interest at all.

Investor sentiment towards China remains bleak and Shanghai

stocks closed lower on Wednesday for a third day, sliding to

their lowest level in six and a half months.

Swiss investment bank UBS on Wednesday cut its 2024 GDP

growth forecast for China to 4.6% from 4.9%, citing a

heavier-than-expected drag on overall economic activity from the

property sector slump.

More alarmingly, perhaps, it also cut its 2025 GDP growth

forecast to 4% from 4.6% and next year's average inflation rate

to 1.0% from 1.4%, indicating China's economic malaise is likely

to deepen rather than lift in the coming year.

Top Chinese and U.S. officials, meanwhile, discussed holding

fresh talks between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in the

near future, the two countries said on Wednesday during

high-level meetings in Beijing.

The discussion occurred during lengthy talks between China's

top diplomat, Wang Yi, and U.S. national security adviser Jake

Sullivan held against the backdrop of sharp disagreements

between the superpowers, including trade and tit-for-tat

tariffs.

Progress, or another false dawn?

Here are key developments that could provide more direction

to Asian markets on Thursday:

- Japan consumer confidence

- New Zealand capex (Q2)

- Germany inflation (August)