GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian stocks hits 12-week high, euro inches up

                                
 * Asia ex-Japan stock index hits 12-week high, up 0.4 pct
                                
 * Nikkei jumps 2.7 pct on weaker yen, stronger earnings
                                
 * Euro hits two-month high vs yen, gains vs dollar
                                
 By Kevin Yao
                                
 SINGAPORE, July 28 (Reuters) - Asian stocks hit a 12-week
high on Wednesday and the euro inched ahead as investors took
comfort from solid U.S. and European company earnings, while
the Australian dollar eased after a sharp slowdown in
inflation.
                                
 Major European stocks <.FTEU3> rose 0.4 percent in early
trade, after shares hit a five-week closing high a day earlier
as several European firms beat earnings forecasts.
                                
 Germany's economy minister said on Wednesday that his
country now has a sustainable recovery, further boosting market
sentiment. [ID:nBAT005625]
                                
 The MSCI index of Asia Pacific ex-Japan stocks
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> gained 0.4 percent to its highest since May 5,
largely shrugging off a fall in U.S. consumer confidence to its
lowest since Feburary.
                                
 Japanese stocks <.N225> jumped 2.7 percent, helped by
stronger earnings and a weaker yen.
                                
 Shares of Canon <7751.T> jumped 5.7 percent after the
world's No. 1 camera maker reported its best profit in seven
quarters, though it may face a tougher second half due to
Europe's economic woes and the yen's strength. [ID:nTOE66P066]
                                
 Japan's earnings season gets into full swing this week,
with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group <8316.T> and Nippon Steel
Corp <5401.T> reporting later in the day and Sony Corp <6758.T>
on Thursday.
                                
 "Risk-money appears to be coming back, albeit slightly,
after UBS and Deutsche Bank reported bullish earnings. The
weaker yen is also helping the market," said Hiroaki Kuramochi,
chief equity marketing officer at Tokai Tokyo Securities.
                                
 Thomson Reuters index of regional shares <.TRXFLDAXPU> was
virtually flat.
                                
 Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P snapped a three-day
winning streak after mixed earnings reports and as a fall in
consumer confidence showed worries over the U.S. job market
persisted. [ID:nN27260375]
                                
 In recent weeks, largely positive earnings reports had
eased concerns that the global economy may stall in the second
half as fiscal stimulus runs out and austerity programs hit
consumer spending.
                                
 In the United States, 78 percent of the 175 companies in
the benchmark S&P 500 index <.SPX> have reported earnings above
analysts' expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.
                                
 While strong earnings have buoyed markets in recent weeks,
the reporting season is nearing an end. Investors may then turn
their focus back to the slowing U.S. economy.
                                
 Yale University economist Robert Shiller, a well-known
prognosticator in real estate markets, told Reuters Insider on
Tuesday that the U.S. economy could enter into a double-dip
recession as growth stalls. [ID:nRTV128716]
                                
 "For me, a double-dip is another recession before we've
healed from this recession ... the probability of that kind of
double-dip is more than 50 percent," Shiller said.
                                
 Most economists, however, do not see a slide back into
recession yet, though growth may be more sluggish.
                                
 Investors were waiting for results from the likes of the
Boeiing Co <BA.N> and Rockwell Automation <ROK.N> later in the
day.
                                
 AUSSIE FALL
                                
 The euro hit a two-month high against the yen as signs of
resilience in the euro zone economy and solid European bank
earnings helped boost investor risk appetite.
                                
 The single currency inched up 0.2 percent to 114.49 yen
<EURJPY=R>, its highest since mid-May.
                                
 Against the dollar, the euro was up 0.2 percent at $1.3021
<EUR=>, hovering near an 11-week high of $1.3047 struck on
Tuesday.
                                
 The Australian dollar <AUD=D4> fell from $0.9010 to $0.8970
after the country reported a weakening in core inflation to its
lowest in over three years, all but ruling out the need for an
interest rate rise next week and possibly for the rest of the
year. [ID:nSGE66P04R]
                                
 August inter-bank futures <0#YIB:> rallied, pricing out
chances of a rate hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia at its
next monthly policy meeting on August 3. Markets had been
factoring in a 30 percent chance of a hike before the data.
                                
 Spot gold <XAU=> hovered near $1,163 an ounce, a day after
falling 2 percent to a near three-month low when the drop in
U.S. consumer confidence and an option expiry prompted heavy
selling.
                                
 Oil prices <CLc1> rose 14 cents to $77.64 a barrel.
 (Editing by Kim Coghill)