Asian stocks were subdued due to lack of new stimulus steps from Beijing, leading to speculation around US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's hawkish stance on interest rates. The S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures remained flat, while EUROSTOXX 50 futures rose 0.2%, and FTSE futures 0.1%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.8%. The yen recovered amid profit taking on short positions, but the markets are concerned about the lack of urgency by the Bank of Japan to change its policy of keeping bond yields low.