SYDNEY (Aug 21): Asian stocks are set for a mixed start amid a muted rise in U.S. equities and a weaker dollar on comments from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Futures ticked lower in Japan and Hong Kong, were little changed in Australia and rose in China. The Shanghai Composite Index will be closely watched after its rebound Monday, as state-backed funds were seen buying stocks to stabilize the market. U.S. equities pared gains in the 15 minutes of trading after Reuters reported that Trump said China and Europe manipulate their currencies. Even with the pull back, the S&P 500 Index advanced for a third day to close within 15 points of a record. Trump also hit the dollar with separate comments lamenting the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate increases, while Treasuries advanced ahead of a meeting of central bankers later this week.

Markets appear to be striking a more optimistic tone after talks between the world’s biggest economies on trade made their way back onto the agenda. Meanwhile, investors will be closely watching this week’s Jackson Hole symposium for clues on monetary policy, and to see whether central bankers can do anything to help bring back stability after the recent bout of emerging market-led volatility.

Elsewhere, the lira slipped for a second day. Turkish markets are closed for most of this week, which may mean low trading volumes and sharper currency swings than usual. Emerging-market stocks and currencies rose.

Here are some key events coming up this week:

* Companies announcing earnings include Alibaba, Royal Bank of Canada, Lowe’s, Target, BHP Billiton, Qantas, Ping An and China’s Bank of Communications.

* Central bankers gather at the Kansas City Fed’s annual Jackson Hole symposium, where Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks Friday.

* The Fed releases the minutes from latest FOMC meeting on Wednesday.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

* Futures on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.1 percent in Singapore.

* S&P/ASX 200 Index futures were little changed.

* Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures were down 0.2 percent.

* CSI 300 Index futures rose 1 percent. 

* Futures on the S&P 500 Index ticked less than 0.1 percent lower as of 7:02 a.m in Tokyo. The benchmark climbed 0.2 percent.
 
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 1.2 percent, the biggest gain in nearly a month.

Currencies

* The yen was steady at 110.05 per dollar after dropping 0.4 percent. 

* The offshore yuan was at 6.8355 per dollar.

* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2 percent, its third decline in a row.

* The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.1491. 

Bonds

* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 2.82 percent, the lowest since July 6.

Commodities

* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.8 percent to $66.43 a barrel Monday.
 
* Gold was steady at $1,190.62 an ounce after climbing 0.5 percent Monday.