* Asian stock markets : https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* Market awaits China GDP, retail sales, output reports
* Nikkei edges up to highest since December
* NZ dollar, bond yields dive on soft inflation data
By Wayne Cole
SYDNEY, April 17 (Reuters) - Asian share markets got off to a guarded start on Wednesday as investors waited anxiously for a raft of Chinese data that might show policy stimulus is finally gaining traction in the world's second-largest economy.
The main mover of the morning was the New Zealand dollar which dived after a weak reading on consumer price inflation stoked expectations for a cut in interest rates. L3N21Y4Y3
Investors are hoping for better news from China which is forecast to report first-quarter economic growth of 6.3 percent. While that would be the slowest pace in at least 27 years, the economy is many times larger now.
A flurry of stimulus measures looks to have put a floor under activity in March, with annual growth in retail sales seen picking up to 8.4 percent. Industrial output is forecast to rise 5.9 percent and urban investment 6.3 percent. broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was a fraction lower, having boasted its highest close on Tuesday since June last year.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 inched up 0.2 percent to reach its highest in almost five months. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 were off 0.06 percent.
Over on Wall Street, the Dow .DJI ended Tuesday with a slight gain of 0.26 percent, while the S&P 500 .SPX firmed 0.05 percent and the Nasdaq .IXIC 0.3 percent.
Healthcare shares fell after UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) UNH.N discussed concerns about U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders' "Medicare for All" plan, as well as the White House's proposal to end discounts from drugmakers. of Qualcomm QCOM.O jumped 23 percent to $70.45, their biggest gain in more than 19 years, after winning a surprise settlement of a long-running legal dispute with Apple Inc AAPL.O . action across markets has become steadily more muted after a strong start to the year. The CBOE Volatility Index .VIX has hit its lowest level in more than six months, while European stock volatility .V2TX reached its lowest level since January 2018.
Currency markets have been similarly becalmed. While the dollar has edged up against a basket of currencies to 97.074 .DXY , it has traded between 95.00 and 97.70 for six months now.
The dollar did finally manage to top resistance on the yen at 112.13 to reach its highest since December at 112.16 JPY= .
The euro was flat at $1.1285 EUR= , having slipped form $1.1314 overnight on a Reuters report that several European Central Bank policymakers think the bank's economic projections are too optimistic. currency on the move was the New Zealand dollar NZD=D3 which sank 0.8 percent to $0.6708 after annual consumer price inflation came in well below expectations at just 1.5 percent for the first quarter.
Yields on two-year bonds NZ2YT=RR dived 9 basis points to 1.48 percent as investors wagered the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) would have to cut rates in response.
In commodity markets, the general improvement in risk sentiment saw spot gold slip to its lowest for the year so far and was last at $1,276.61 per ounce XAU= .
Oil prices were buoyed as fighting in Libya and falling Venezuelan and Iranian exports raised concerns over tightening global supply. O/R
U.S. crude CLc1 was last up 31 cents at $64.36 a barrel, while Brent crude LCOc1 futures were up 14 cents at $71.86.
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