People walk past an electronic board showing Japan's Nikkei average and the yen’s exchange rate against the dollar outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan. Picture: REUTERS/TORU HANAIAsia stocks fell on Monday as investors scaled back expectations of an aggressive interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, while heightened Middle East tensions following Iran’s seizure of a British tanker lifted crude oil prices.Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.
Expectations for a larger cut were scaled back even more after the Wall Street Journal reported the Fed was likely to cut rates by 25 bps in July, and may make further cuts in the future given global growth and trade uncertainties. “A factor which could guide stocks lower this week are tweets by US President Donald Trump pertaining to trade issues with China,” said Junichi Ishikawa, senior forex strategist at IG Securities.