Asia stocks dip, lower yields keep dollar in check

By Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian stocks tracked an overnight decline on Wall Street and dipped early on Wednesday, while the dollar was kept in check after U.S. yields fell on geopolitical woes and dovish statements by a Federal Reserve official.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 percent, sliding to a fresh four-month low.

Tokyo's Nikkei shed 0.6 percent.

U.S. stocks fell overnight, weighed by downbeat European data and as the first U.S.-led air strikes in Syria against Islamic State fighters dampened investor risk appetite.

The air strikes in Syria, which opened a new front amid shifting Middle East alliances, also garnered demand for safe-haven government debt and pushed U.S. Treasury yields lower, in turn helping arrest the dollar's recent bull run.

The dollar was down 0.3 percent at 108.50 yen, after going as low as 108.25 yen overnight. The greenback has been on the back foot after scaling a six-year high of 109.46 on Friday.

The euro was little changed at $1.2839, limping away from the 14-month low of $1.2816 hit Monday.

For further currency market direction participants awaited upcoming comments from Fed officials.

"Fed officials will be in focus again today.. .if they do not give any hints that they are in a hurry to hike rates the dollar could lose more ground against the yen and present 109 as a ceiling," said Masafumi Yamamoto, market strategist for Praevidentia Strategy in Tokyo.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester speaks later in the day, after Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota said on Tuesday the central bank can keep stimulating the U.S. economy because inflation is posing little threat -comments the markets perceived as dovish.

In commodities, Brent crude oil was little changed, with ample global supplies outweighing tensions in the Middle East for the moment. [O/R]

Brent was up 6 cents at $96.91 a barrel.

Gold dipped as a spike triggered by safe haven bids in the wake of the airstrikes in Syria faded. Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,221.01 an ounce.

(Editing by Eric Meijer)