A bout of risk aversion hit Asian equities...>

STOCKS: A bout of risk aversion hit Asian equities & US index futures early on

with hard line comments re: China from Messrs Navarro & Kudlow weighing on risk

appetite, although equities did rebound from session lows.

- The Nikkei 225 last trades 0.1% higher, energy names weighed, while real

estate was the biggest gainer.

- Hong Kong & Chinese stocks were resilient moving in to earnings season, with

heavyweight Tencent benefitting from a generally upbeat tone in analysts views.

The Hang Seng is 0.1% higher, with China's CSI 300 0.4% better off.

- The ASX 200 lagged, trading 0.2% lower as financial & energy names weighed on

the index, although the heavyweight materials sector posted solid gains.

- US index futures managed to bounce, with the e-mini S&P last trading 4 points

higher and the mini-Dow 35 points to the good.