GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia shares trudge behind as S&P futures scale new peak

* Asian stock markets : https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* S&P futures reach another new peak, Nikkei lags
* Fed sticking to stimulus, Powell set to speak
* Treasury yields dip, leaving dollar aimless

By Wayne Cole
SYDNEY, April 8 (Reuters) - Asian share markets lagged
behind on Thursday as U.S. stock futures hit new peaks after the
Federal Reserve underlined its commitment to keeping policy
super loose even as the economy enjoys a rapid recovery.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS inched up 0.2% in very quiet trade. Moves were
modest across the region with Chinese blue chips up 0.1%
.CSI300 and South Korea .KS11 dead flat.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 slipped 0.3%, not helped by news
Tokyo's governor had asked for emergency measures to stem a
surge of COVID-19 infections.
The outperformance of the U.S. economy helped S&P 500
futures ESc1 climb 0.4% to a new high, while Nasdaq futures
NQc1 gained 0.7%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures STXEc1 firmed 0.4%
and FTSE futures FFIc1 0.3%.
Minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting showed
members felt the economy was still far short of target and were
in no rush to scale back their $120 billion a month of bond
buying. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at an IMF event later on
Thursday and is likely to reiterate the dovish outlook.
"This discussion is consistent with our view that it will be
later this year before the Fed starts talking about talking
about tapering, with actual changes to the purchase pace not
occurring until Q1 2022," said analysts at JPMorgan.
"Fed officials generally viewed the recent rise in
longer-term Treasury yields as reflecting an improving outlook
and some firming of inflation expectations, and not a risk to
the outlook."
Yields on 10-year Treasuries US10YT=TWEB have since eased
back a little to 1.669%, from the recent 14-month top of 1.776%,
but have struggled to break under 1.59%.
The pullback coincided with a dip in the dollar index to
92.382 =USD , from its recent five-month high at 93.439. The
dollar was likewise holding at 109.70 yen JPY= , having faded
from its recent one-year peak of 110.96.
The euro was steady at $1.1874 EUR= , after reaching as
high as $1.1914 overnight following a surprisingly upbeat survey
of European Union business activity.
"Improved virus and growth expectations have spurred
consumer and business confidence, driving up both domestic and
global demand for manufactured products," said analysts at
Barclays in a note.
"This phenomenon is broad-based across European economies."
In commodity markets, gold was idling at $1,738 an ounce
XAU= after meeting resistance around $1,745.
Oil prices slipped, but were still within a narrow trading
band that has held for the last two weeks or so. O/R
Brent LCOc1 fell 33 cents to $62.83 a barrel, while U.S.
crude CLc1 lost 37 cents to $59.40 per barrel.

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Asia stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Asia-Pacific valuations https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA
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(Aditional reporting by Chibuike Oguh; Editing by Ana Nicolaci
da Costa and Jacqueline Wong)