Asian stocks poised to follow U.S. equities lower

U.S. equity futures edged higher and the dollar slipped for a second day, as investors awaited a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for signals about the path of interest-rate increases and assessed prospects for China’s economic reopening.

European shares climbed the most in more than a week, with sentiment buoyed as Euro-zone inflation slowed for the first time in 1 1/2 years, offering a glimmer of hope to the European Central Bank in its fight against inflation. Contracts on the S&P500 and the Nasdaq 100 posted moderate advances, with the underlying indexes having endured three days of losses. 

Investors will keep their attention trained later on Powell’s comments on the economy and the labor market. He is widely expected to signal that the next Fed rate hike will step down to 50 basis points, though he will also likely warn that policy tightening has further to run. 

Those hopes of slower interest rate rises, alongside mounting optimism over China’s reopening, pushed the dollar lower and put the greenback on track for its worst month since 2010. Benchmark Treasury 10-year yields slipped and are down more than 25 basis points in November.