GLOBAL MARKET-Asian stocks slip as global rally skids on inflation fears

* Expectations of faster growth spur inflation fears
* Crude oil, metal prices gain on growth outlook
* High-flying tech shares tumble in rotation shift

By Echo Wang
MIAMI, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Asian stocks dipped on Tuesday as
rising U.S. Treasury yields and inflation prospects led to a
further rotation out of the big tech stocks responsible for a
major Wall Street rally during the pandemic.
The Australian S&P/ASX 200 .AXJO fell 0.11% and South
Korea's Kospi .KS11 declined 0.87% in early trading. Hong
Kong's Hang Seng index futures .HSI HSIc1 rose 0.54%.
Japanese markets are closed for a public holiday on Tuesday.
Oil prices rose on a tight global supply outlook after U.S.
production was hammered by frigid weather and an approaching
meeting of top crude producers is expected to keep output
largely in check.
Bond yields have risen sharply this month as prospects of
more U.S. fiscal stimulus boosted hopes for a faster economic
recovery globally.
However, that is also fuelling inflation expectations,
prompting investors to sell the growth stocks that drove the
equity rally during the pandemic.
"The sell-off in bonds is like a car crash in slow motion
for equity investors," said Michael McCarthy, chief market
strategist at broker CMC Markets in Sydney. "A higher interest
rate environment forces investors to consider the opportunity
costs of investments. Stocks that have significant borrowing, or
produce no income for investors, may be particularly
vulnerable."
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
0.09%, eking a small gain. The S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.77% and the
Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 2.46%.
High-growth stocks, including Apple Inc AAPL.O , Microsoft
Corp MSFT.O , Tesla Inc TSLA.O and Amazon.com AMZN.O ,
pulled the Nasdaq down and weighed on the S&P 500.
The Australian dollar traded near breakeven against the
greenback at $0.791 after hitting a new three-year high.
Commodity prices rose partly as the U.S. dollar continues
its broad-based weakness. Spot gold XAU= added 0.06% to
$1,809.69 an ounce.
MSCI's all-country world index .MIWD00000PUS , which looks
at stock market performance across 45 countries, gained 0.04%.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivers his semi-annual
testimony before Congress starting Tuesday and is likely to
reiterate a commitment to keeping policy super easy for as long
as needed to drive inflation higher. U.S. economic growth as measured by gross domestic product
is expected to run more vigorously than at any time in the past
35 years and business investment is expected to run twice as
quickly as the broad economy, according to Credit Suisse.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS fell 1.18% on Monday, after slipping from a
record top last week as the jump in U.S. bond yields unsettled
investors.
The dollar index =USD fell 0.287%, with the euro EUR= up
0.09% to $1.2165. The Japanese yen JPY= strengthened 0.06%
versus the greenback at 104.99 per dollar.

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