GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares tumble on global economy doubts

                                
 * Asian shares retreat from 7-mth high hit on Monday
                                
 * China's trade data casts doubt abt global economy
                                
 * Safe-haven yen gains, oil prices slide
 (Updates with European opening call, latest Asian prices)
                                
 By Rafael Nam
                                
 HONG KONG, May 12 (Reuters) - Asian shares fell for a
second straight session on Tuesday as some of the confidence
that fuelled a rally in stocks to seven-month highs was
undermined by reports highlighting economic weakness.
                                
 European shares were also set to fall, while investors
shifted to assets seen as safer during volatile times,
including the yen.
                                
 Sentiment was hit by data on Tuesday showing China's
exports in April fell more steeply than expected from a year
earlier, casting fresh doubt on the prospects for recovery in
the world's third largest economy. Imports also dropped.
[ID:nPEK146927]
                                
 Hopes of a recovery in China on the back of big government
spending had fuelled a surge in equity markets from lows in
early March, as investors bet on a turnaround in the global
economy.
                                
 "Exports are still falling, and the future of the world
economy remains uncertain. It's really hard to be optimistic
about China's trade prospects," said Qi Jingmei, an economist
with the State Information Centre in Beijing.
                                
 The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> lost 1.8 percent as of 0625 GMT.
                                
 That marked the second session of losses for an index that
just on Monday had hit its highest level since early October.
Still, it is up about 50 percent since early March.
                                
 Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> fell 1.6 percent, retreating
from its highest close in six months on Monday.
                                
 The declines come as debate about the outlook for the
global economy is confounded by the mixed nature of recent
reports.
                                
 Optimists pointed to a survey from the Organisation for
Economic Co-Operation and Development on Monday that noted the
pace of the decline in the world's major industrialised and
emerging economies was easing. [ID:nLB61361]
                                
 Leading central bankers, including ECB President
Jean-Claude Trichet, on Monday also suggested the global
economy was turning the corner. [ID:nLB194016]
                                
 The South Korean central bank forecast mildly positive
quarterly growth in coming months for an economy that just
skirted a recession in the first quarter, but said risks
remained so it would keep an accommodative monetary policy. It
left rates at a record low of 2.0 percent as widely expected.
[ID:nSEO141340]
                                
 However, other reports have not been too rosy. Industrial
production in France and Italy dropped more sharply than
expected in March, data showed on Monday, in a bad omen for the
eurozone economy [ID:nLB205262].
                                
 India also reported on Tuesday that industrial output fell
in March more than expected from a year earlier.
[ID:nBMA002885]
                                
 In Asia, Shanghai's main index <.SSEC> was flat. Hong
Kong's shares <.HSI> fell 0.9 percent, though shares in HSBC
<0005.HK> advanced 1.1 percent after the British lender on
Monday said first-quarter profits were "well ahead" of last
year. [ID:nLB716280]
                                
 But with the exception of HSBC, Asian financial shares
including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group <8306.T> dropped
following a rally that had tracked gains in U.S. banking
shares.
                                
 Taiwan's main index <.TWII> slumped 3.2 percent, while
other major indexes such as Australia <.AXJO> and Singapore
<.FTSTI> lost about 1 percent each.
                                
 WHERE TO NEXT?
                                
 Renewed market uncertainty this week has benefitted
currencies seen as safe havens, such as the Japanese yen.
                                
 The dollar fell 0.2 percent from late New York trade to
97.29 yen <JPY=> after dropping as low as 97.13 yen earlier on
trading platform EBS.
                                
 The dollar index, a gauge of the greenback's performance
against six major currencies, slipped 0.3 percent to 82.628
<.DXY>, though that is still above the four-month low of 82.292
touched on Monday.
                                
 The euro edged up 0.2 percent to $1.3605 <EUR=>, near a
seven-week peak of $1.3670 hit on Monday.
                                
 "The market returned to being a little more cautious about
reading economic fundamentals after optimism reigned in the
past few months," said Hideaki Inoue, chief manager of forex
trading at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Bank.
                                
 Oil futures slumped 64 cents to $57.86 a barrel after
hitting a near six-month high of $58.75 on Friday.