Passersby walk past an electric monitor displaying the Japanese yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar outside a brokerage in TokyoSYDNEY - Asian shares drifted lower on Monday as the risk of a wider conflict in the Middle East clouded sentiment in a week laden with data on U.S. growth and inflation as well as earnings from some of the world's largest tech companies.
A recent surge in bond yields has tightened monetary conditions without the central banks having to do anything, allowing the Federal Reserve to signal it will likely stay on hold at its policy meeting next week. Early Monday, both S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures added 0.3%, though U.S. 10-year Treasury yields were up at 4.946% and edging back toward 5.0%.
Profits should be supported by the strength of consumer demand with figures on U.S. gross domestic product this week expected to show annualised growth of a heady 4.2%, and nominal growth possibly as high as 7%. The euro was flat at $1.0588, while the Swiss franc held firm at 0.8927 per dollar having benefited from safe haven flows over the past couple of weeks.