OIL PRICE: NOT ABOVE $72

REUTERS - Asian share markets were mixed and oil prices fell on Monday as relief U.S.-led strikes on Syria looked unlikely to escalate was tempered by concerns at Russia's potential reaction to new sanctions from Washington.

With the situation in the Middle East still fluid, moves were modest and in both directions. EMini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 nudged up 0.38 percent, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 added 0.2 percent.

Yet MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS slipped 0.4 percent as Chinese blue chips .CSI300 took an early 0.7 percent dip.

The United States, France and Britain launched 105 missiles targeting what the Pentagon said were three chemical weapons facilities in Syria in retaliation for a suspected poison gas attack in Douma on April 7.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Sunday that further Western attacks on Syria would bring chaos to world affairs, as Washington prepared to increase pressure on Russia with new economic sanctions.

But with President Donald Trump declaring mission accomplished, investors wagered the worst had been avoided.

"Trump was able to enforce his chemical weapons red line without crossing the threshold for Russian retaliation," analysts at JPMorgan said in a note.

"Stocks were concerned about a prolonged and expanded U.S. campaign toward Assad and that doesn't look probable."

Safe-haven assets eased in response, with yields on U.S. 10-year Treasury debt US10YT=RR up two basis points at 2.84 percent.

The dollar was a fraction firmer on the yen at 107.40 JPY=, up on last week's low around 106.62.

Dealers were keeping a wary eye on Japanese politics after a survey showed support for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had fallen to 26.7 percent, the lowest since he took office in late 2012.

Abe's sliding ratings are raising doubts over whether he can win a third three-year term as ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader in a September vote, or whether he might even resign before the party election.

The euro was steady at $1.2330 EUR=, while the dollar index eased a touch to 89.772 .DXY.

In commodity markets, gold gained 0.1 percent to $1,346.61 an ounce XAU=, but remained well short of last week's peak at $1,365.23.

Oil prices slipped with Brent crude futures LCOc1 off 66 cents at $71.92 a barrel, while U.S. crude CLc1 fell 56 cents to $66.83 a barrel.

Looking ahead, the U.S. earnings season kicks into high gear this week with Thomson Reuters data predicting profits at S&P 500 companies increased by 18.6 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, their biggest rise in seven years.

Yet with expectations so high, bank shares ran into profit-taking on Friday after a batch of mixed results.

In Asia, China reports its gross domestic product for the first quarter on Tuesday with market forecasts clustered around growth of 6.7 percent to 6.8 percent.

The United States reports retail sales later on Monday and there are around 15 Federal Reserve speakers in the diary for the week.

Also this week, the IMF will hold its spring meetings of central bankers and finance ministers in Washington.

-----

Earlier: 

2018, April, 13, 18:10:00 OIL PRICE: ABOVE $72 REUTERS - Recovering from earlier losses, Brent crude LCOc1 was up 28 cents at $72.30 a barrel by 1301 GMT and set for a weekly gain of almost 8 percent, or about $5.U.S. crude for May delivery CLc1 rose 28 cents to $67.35, up more than 8 percent, or about $5, for the week.

2018, April, 11, 13:40:00 OIL PRICE: ABOVE $71 REUTERS - Brent crude has gained 5.7 percent this week, rising to $71.34 a barrel on Tuesday, the highest since late 2014, although the price has since fallen back and was $70.98 a barrel by 0907 GMT LCOc1, down 6 cents.U.S. crude futures CLc1 were at $65.55 a barrel, up 4 cents on the day.

2018, April, 11, 13:35:00 RUSSIA - OPEC UNLIMITED PLATTS - Maintaining a long-term oil management alliance with Russia and other allies will allow OPEC producers to react more quickly to changing fundamentals and stabilize the market,

2018, April, 11, 13:30:00 INDIA WANTS $50 BLOOMBERG - “We are a very price-sensitive consumer,’’ Pradhan said on Tuesday. “From Indian consumers’ point of view, I will be more than happy if the price is around $50 a barrel.’

2018, April, 11, 13:25:00 OIL PRICE 2018-19: $63 EIA - Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $66 per barrel (b) in March. EIA forecasts Brent spot prices will average about $63/b in both 2018 and 2019. EIA expects West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices to average $4/b lower than Brent prices in both 2018 and 2019. NYMEX WTI futures and options contract values for July 2018 delivery that traded during the five-day period ending April 5, 2018, suggest a range of $52/b to $78/b encompasses the market expectation for July 2018 WTI prices at the 95% confidence level.

2018, April, 9, 11:45:00 OIL PRICE: NOT ABOVE $68 AGAIN REUTERS - U.S. WTI crude futures CLc1 were at $62.31 a barrel at 0643 GMT, up 25 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their previous settlement. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $67.42 per barrel, up 31 cents, or 0.5 percent.

2018, April, 9, 11:35:00 OPEC - RUSSIA UNLIMITED PLATTS - Russia is willing to work with the OPEC coalition indefinitely to regulate global oil supplies and has advocated the creation of a new global body to monitor crude markets, the country's energy minister said.