“Expectations of official support to China markets is underpinning gains in Asian equities, and the pushback in Fed rate cut expectations seems to have been priced in for now,” said Charu Chanana, head of FX strategy at Saxo Capital Markets. “However, the effect may be temporary as all these are band-aid measures that cannot fix the structural issues that China is facing from the property sector to lack of productivity.”

Japanese stocks were muted amid a mixed bag of earnings from major companies including Toyota, Mitsubishi Corp and Daikin.   

The yield on 10-year Treasuries slipped in early Asian trading. Bonds rebounded in the US session as the three-year auction drew solid demand, bolstering sentiment before a record $42-billion sale of 10-year Treasuries on Wednesday. 

The dollar steadied following Tuesday’s drop. A drumbeat of Fed officials echoed Jerome Powell’s signals that the central bank will be in no rush to ease policy.

Fed Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said legislators will probably gain confidence to cut interest rates “later this year” if the economy evolves as expected. Her Minneapolis counterpart Neel Kashkari celebrated the substantial improvement made on inflation, but indicated more progress is needed. 

New York Community Bancorp’s credit grade was cut to junk by Moody’s Investors Service less than a week after the regional lender said it was stockpiling reserves to cover souring loans tied to commercial real estate.

In New Zealand, government bond yields rose after the country’s strong jobs report, which suggested the central bank could remain cautious about cutting interest rates. The local currency and the Aussie dollar strengthened for the second day. 

In other markets, oil rose for a third day as geopolitical risk in the Middle East was partially offset by a report showing stockpiles expanding in the US.

In the corporate world, Toyota extended gains it had made on Tuesday after the world’s No.1 carmaker boosted its operating income guidance for the full year. Mitsubishi Corp. jumped following a share buyback announcement. Yum China Holdings Inc. soared following a sales beat. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. reports later in the day.