GLOBAL MARKETS-Buoyant stocks pause for breath on signs of softening US consumption

By Tom Westbrook

SINGAPORE, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Bonds jumped and a rebound in stock markets slowed down on Wednesday after softer-than-expected U.S. retail sales figures, while a rally in the yen has extended and might be beginning to signal a shift in investor thinking since Japan's election.

Morning trade in Asia was lightened by a holiday in Japan and as investors waited on inflation data due in China. Gold XAU= rose back above $5,000 an ounce.

Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields US10YT=TWEB fell nearly six basis points overnight and touched a one-month low of 4.14% after data showed a 0.1% dip in core U.S. retail sales in December and downward revisions to November and October figures.

Yields fall when bond prices rise. The S&P 500 .SPX closed 0.3% lower, as a recovery from last week's heavy selling in software shares starts to lose momentum.

Alphabet GOOGL.O shares, which fell 1.8%, weighed on the market as the Google parent is in the midst of raising debt to fund an AI infrastructure spending spree. .N

In Asia, S&P 500 futures ESc1 were 0.2% higher, Nikkei futures JNMcm1 rose - though the cash market was shut for a holiday - and earnings drove moves in the Australian market .AXJO, which was up 1% around the middle of the day in Sydney.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX shares jumped 7% as Australia's top mortgagee posted record earnings, loan growth, held market share and lifted its dividend.

Shares in CSL, a biotech company that makes most of its money selling blood plasma treatments for rare illnesses, dived 12% and touched eight-year lows after the company reported a fall in first-half profit and, late on Tuesday, announced the departure of its CEO.

Australia's beleaguered bourse operator, ASX ASX.AX, which has run into trouble with regulators as it tries to overhaul its trading technology, also announced the departure of its CEO late on Tuesday and shares were down 5.5% on Wednesday.

JURY'S OUT ON YEN BOUNCEBACK

In currency markets, a resurgent yen and a rising yuan have the dollar on the back foot.

The yen JPY=, trading at 153.96 per dollar, gained nearly 1% on the greenback on Tuesday and has bounced 2% since Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her ruling Liberal Democratic Party swept to a landslide election win on Sunday.

Many investors had been expecting a weaker currency on nerves about how Takaichi would pay for stimulus plans. But bond markets have been surprisingly steady since her victory, stocks have soared and so some investors are rethinking assumptions.

"To be long yen, you need to believe that the correlation to Nikkei will break and it becomes an unhedged 'buy Japan' trade," said Brent Donnelly, a currency trader and founder of analytics firm Spectra Markets.

"That's possible. I just think the jury's still out."

The yen also rose sharply on crosses overnight. The euro EUR= was steady at $1.1894 while the kiwi NZD= and Aussie AUD= held on above 60 cents and 70 cents, respectively.

China's yuan was firm in offshore trade after surging to its highest in almost three years on Tuesday, riding corporate demand for cash ahead of the Lunar New Year break. CNY/

Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 steadied at $68.80 a barrel with markets hanging on U.S.-Iran diplomacy. Bitcoin BTC= has struggled to progress beyond the $70,000 barrier and was pinned around $69,000 on Wednesday.