GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks dip after Fed tapers aggressive easing expectations

* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* European stock futures slip in early trade
* Fed's Powell, Bullard temper July rate cut expectations
* Dollar crawls up from 3-month lows on Fed officials'
comments
* RBNZ stands pat on policy but flags more easing ahead
* Gold dips from 6-year high, but still up 8.5% for the
month

By Shinichi Saoshiro
TOKYO, June 26 (Reuters) - Asian stocks dipped on Wednesday
and the dollar inched up from three-month lows after Federal
Reserve officials tempered expectations in the markets for
aggressive monetary easing.
In early European trade, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50
futures STXEc1 were down 0.29%, German DAX futures FDXc1
lost 0.31% and Britain's FTSE futures FFIc1 slipped 0.26%.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday said the central bank is
"insulated from short-term political pressures," pushing back
against U.S. President Donald Trump's demand for a significant
rate cut.
Powell, however, said Fed policymakers are wrestling with
questions on whether uncertainties around U.S. tariffs,
Washington's conflicts with trading partners and tame inflation
require a rate cut. Separately, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard told
Bloomberg Television he does not think the U.S. economy is dire
enough to warrant a 50-basis-point cut in July, even though he
pushed to lower rates last week. Equity markets have rallied this month, with Wall Street
shares advancing to record highs, after the Fed was seen to have
opened the door to possible rate cuts as early as next month at
is policy-setting meeting last week.
According to latest data from CME Group's FedWatch program,
federal funds futures implied that traders now see a 27% chance
of the Fed lowering rates by half a percentage point in July,
compared to 42% on Monday.
Trump said on Twitter on Monday that the Fed "doesn't know
what it is doing," adding that it "raised rates far too fast"
and "blew it" given low inflation and slowing global growth.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS declined 0.15%, tracking overnight losses on
Wall Street.
The Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC edged down 0.25% and
Australian stocks .AXJO dipped 0.1%. Japan's Nikkei .N225
retreated 0.6%.
"While Powell's comments do not alter expectations that the
Fed will ease sooner or later, they do leave a slightly negative
impact on equities," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist
at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.
"The focus is now on the G20 summit. Market expectations for
a meaningful breakthrough being achieved in U.S.-China trade
talks are quite low, so any signs of an improvement could bode
well for risk sentiment."
The United States hopes to re-launch trade talks with
Beijing after Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping meet
in Japan during the G20 summit on Saturday but Washington will
not accept any conditions on tariffs, a senior administration
official said on Tuesday. The two sides could agree not to impose new tariffs as a
goodwill gesture to get negotiations going, the official said,
but it was unclear if that would happen.
Many G20 members have a stake in the outcome because the row
has disrupted global supply chains, slowed world growth and
stirred expectations of interest rate cuts or other stimulus
measures by some of the group's central banks. The dollar index .DXY against a basket of six major
currencies was up 0.15% at 96.302, extending modest overnight
gains.
The index had bounced back from 95.843 on Tuesday, its
lowest level since March 21, following comments from the top Fed
officials.
The dollar added 0.3% to 107.490 yen JPY= after a rebound
from a near six-month low of 106.780.
The greenback had sunk to the six-month trough as the yen, a
perceived safe haven, had drawn bids in the face of brewing
U.S.-Iran tensions.
The euro EUR= slipped 0.1% to $1.1353 after being nudged
off a three-month peak of $1.1412.
The New Zealand dollar edged higher after the Reserve Bank
of New Zealand (RBNZ) stood pat on monetary policy on Thursday,
keeping rates at a record low 1.50%. But the kiwi's gains were
limited as the central bank expressed concern towards economic
risks at home and abroad. "Overall, today's announcement provides a strengthened
signal that another cut is coming, most likely soon, unless
there is a marked improvement in the global outlook," wrote
economists at HSBC.
The kiwi NZD=D4 last traded 0.2% higher at $0.6651.
U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 advanced roughly 2% to touch a
four-week high of $59.10 per barrel after data showed a decline
in U.S. crude stocks. O/R
The U.S. data helped underpin a crude market already buoyed
by worries over potential U.S.-Iran conflict.
Spot gold XAU= slipped from a six-year high of $1,438.63
an ounce scaled on Tuesday after the comments from Fed officials
trimmed expectations for a rate hike in July.
Gold was down 1% at $1,407.61 an ounce, headed to snap a
six-day winning streak. The precious metal was still up 8.5% so
far this month. GOL/

(Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Sam Holmes & Kim Coghill)