SYDNEY, April 30, 2018 (Reuters) - Asian shares extended gains on Monday as tensions in the Korean Peninsula eased and first-quarter earnings shone, although some investors were cautious about the outlook amid the backdrop of a simmering US-China trade dispute. Spread-betters pointed to a strong start for European shares with FTSE futures FFIc1 up 0.2 per cent. E-Minis for the S&P 500 gained 0.3 per cent while Dow futures added 0.3 per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 1 per cent, adding to a similar rise on Friday. The index is now poised for a modest rise this month after two consecutive losses. South Korea's KOSPI index jumped 0.8 per cent and is set to end April more than 2.5 per cent higher following record profits from tech giant Samsung Electronics and after a spectacularly successful inter-Korean summit. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index .HSI climbed 1.6 per cent, Australia's benchmark index rose 0.5 per cent while New Zealand shares gave up early losses to be up 0.9 per cent. Liquidity was low on Monday with Japan, China and India on holiday and much of Asia closed on Tuesday. Overall, stocks continue to be supported by strong first quarter corporate earnings. More than half of Wall Street's S&P 500 .SPX companies have reported and 79.4 per cent have beaten consensus estimates. But investors have grown increasingly jittery with the U.S. Federal Reserve signaling faster rate rises this year and the European Central Bank seen likely to end its generous bond-buying program soon. "The key question for 2018 remains to what extent can the benign environment persist?" said Jacob Mitchell, Chief Investment Officer of Australian investment boutique Antipodes which has A$7 billion in assets under management. Global shares had a dream run in 2017 helped by the first synchronous world growth in decades coupled with easy monetary policies in most of the developed world. "We believe the unusually favorable goldilocks combination of accelerating growth and tepid inflation experienced in 2017 will not repeat," Mitchell added.
