GLOBAL MARKETS-Mood mixed among Asian shares, dollar steady

                                
 * Nikkei ends down but above lows as China data helps a bit
                                
 * Surveys show China manufacturing extends recovery
                                
 * Seoul up but Australian shares in red, miners in retreat
                                
 * Oil steady above $70 a barrel after 2 pct drop
                                
 By Charlotte Cooper
                                
 TOKYO, July 1 (Reuters) - Asian stock markets put in a
mixed performance on Wednesday, with Seoul gaining but Tokyo
and Sydney weak as data showed the process of swinging the
global economy around to a recovery would be a slow grind.
                                
 In Europe, financial bookmakers expected Britain's FTSE 100
<.FTSE> to open up, along with Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> and
France's CAC-40 <.FCHI>.
                                
 Oil held above $70 a barrel after U.S. industry inventory
data showed a bigger-than-expected fall in crude stocks, which
pared some of the previous day's losses after data had
unsettled investors about a potential U.S. economic rebound.
                                
 In Japan, business confidence pulled back from a record low
hit three months ago, but the improvement was smaller than
market players had expected and still a negative reading.
[ID:nT135345]
                                
 That followed an unexpectedly steep slide in U.S. consumer
confidence in June, which dented optimism on Wall Street about
prospects for recovery and weighed on shares in Asia.
                                
 But news of a smaller-than-expected drop in South Korea's
exports lifted shares in Seoul 1.6 percent <.KS11>, and factory
surveys in China showed a steady recovery in June, boosting
Shanghai stocks <.SSEC> by 1.6 percent. [ID:nPEK138883]
[ID:nSEO136829]
                                
 The broader MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares excluding
Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS>, which hit a 2009 peak earlier in June,
edged down 0.2 percent.
                                
 Tokyo's Nikkei share average <.N225> fluctuated heavily
before closing 0.2 percent in the red.
                                
 Currencies too struggled for direction as rallies in
commodity-related and riskier currencies paused.
                                
 "There's no consensus in the market right now between
optimism and pessimism, as it's in the midst of recovery trade
after extreme moves," said Minoru Shioiri, chief manager of
forex trading at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
                                
 "Perhaps you can say the market has been leaning toward
risk-taking, but it still needs to affirm that a recovery in
the real economy is keeping pace with expectations."
                                
 In Japan, Orix Corp <8591.T> and All Nippon Airways
<9202.T> slid after sources familiar with the matter said they
were set to announce large public share offerings.
[ID:nT105398]
                                
 But construction makers such as Komatsu <6301.T> gained,
helped by the manufacturing surveys data from China.
                                
 Brokerage CLSA's China Purchasing Managers' Index rose in
June to an 11-month high of 51.8 and China's official
purchasing managers' index (PMI) for June also showed China's
economic recovery is on more solid ground. [ID:nBJB000639]
                                
 Nonetheless, Australia saw a weak start to the new quarter.
The benchmark index <.AXJO> fell 2.1 percent as miners such as
BHP Billiton <BHP.AX> shed 2 percent and growth-sensitive
stocks such as mall owner Westfield Group <WDC.AX> lost ground.
                                
 MIXED BAG
                                
 Japan's business confidence figures came after the U.S.
Conference Board's index of consumer attitudes fell in June to
49.3 from 54.8 in May, deflating U.S. stocks on the last day of
the quarter.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> slipped 0.97
percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> dropped 0.85
percent and the Nasdaq <.IXIC> eased 0.49 percent. Still, Wall
Street closed out its best quarter in a decade. [.N]
                                
 Markets are likely to be subdued as they await key U.S.
jobs data on Thursday which help put another piece in the
puzzle about how fast the world's largest economy is mending.
                                
 Speaking ahead of that and a raft of U.S. data later on
Wednesday, San Francisco Federal Reserve President Janet Yellen
said the Fed's key interest rates could stay near zero for a
couple of years. [ID:nN30448165]
                                
 The dollar index <.DXY> initially gained but later dropped
back to stand steady on the day and the yen recouped ground
lost to outflows from Japanese pension and mutual funds,
traders said.
                                
 The dollar climbed 0.3 percent to 96.65 yen <JPY=>, after
touching its highest in nearly two weeks, while the euro was
steady at $1.4033 <EUR=>.
                                
 U.S. Treasury prices edged higher while the two-year
Japanese government bond yield hit its lowest in three years as
expectations grew the central bank would extend measures to
ease corporate credit strains beyond a September deadline.
                                
 Gold edged higher to $930.10 an ounce <XAU=>, taking a
breather after falling more than 1 percent the previous day
when a stronger dollar prompted broad-based selling across the
commodities sector.
                                
 U.S. crude futures stood at $70.41 a barrel <CLc1>, helped
by news from the American Petroleum Institute that domestic
crude stocks fell 6.8 million barrels to 349.7 million barrels
last week, against analysts' forecasts of a 2 million barrel
fall. [ID:nN30469016]