Asian shares slid anew on Monday, getting little lift from a surprise rate cut by China's central bank, while Wall Street futures firmed in the wake of President Joe Biden's decision to bow out of the election race.

The People's Bank of China cut short-term rates by 10 basis points, which pulled down long-term borrowing costs and bond yields. The move follows Beijing's release of a policy document on Sunday outlining its ambitions for the economy.

Investors seemed underwhelmed with the move, in part as it only emphasized how weak the economy was, and Chinese blue chips slipped 0.8 percent.

"Basically, all the fundamental factors point to the fact that China needs a lower rate environment, especially the real rate is really high...in this kind of disinflationary environment," said Gary Ng, Asia-Pacific senior economist at Natixis in Hong Kong.

"I think the general trend is that it's pretty much in line with the fact that the economy is not that great, and it seems that there's a bit of urgency from the authorities to stimulate it now."

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost another 1.0 percent, having shed 3 percent last week.

Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.1 percent and South Korea's benchmark index fell 1.5 percent. Taiwan was having another tough session with a loss of 2.4 percent.

Investors seemed much better prepared for news President Biden would drop out of the election race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic ticket.

Online betting site PredictIT showed pricing for a victory by Donald Trump had fallen 4 cents to 60 cents, while Harris climbed 12 cents to 39 cents. California governor Gavin Newsom, another possible Democratic challenger, trailed at 4 cents.

Markets took the news in their stride, with S&P 500 stock futures nudging up 0.1 percent, while Nasdaq futures added 0.2 percent. Futures for 10-year Treasuries rose 2 ticks, while 10-year bond yields dipped 1 basis point to 4.23 percent.

"As Trump's polling results have lifted, markets have favored positions that anticipate more trade barriers and possibly higher inflation," ANZ analysts said.

"Some polls have Harris performing better than Biden against Trump, and the Democrats will be hoping the next polls feature a Harris-driven bump."

A packed week of corporate earnings will see Tesla and Google-parent Alphabet kick off the season for the "Magnificent Seven" megacap group of stocks.

Others reporting include General Electric, General Motors, Ford and Lockheed Martin.

The tech sector is projected to increase year-over-year earnings by 17 percent, while profit for the communication services sector is seen rising about 22 percent.

Such gains would outpace the 11 percent estimated rise for the S&P 500 overall, according to LSEG IBES.

A busy week for economic news will culminate with the Federal Reserve's favored inflation measure out on Friday. The core personal consumption expenditures index is seen rising 0.1 percent in June, pulling the annual pace down a tick to 2.5 percent.

Markets are wagering heavily that a benign outcome will firm the case for a September rate cut, which futures are pricing as a 97 percent chance.

Also due are figures for advance gross domestic product that are forecast to show growth picking up to an annualized 1.9 percent in the second quarter, from 1.4 percent in the first.

The closely watched Atlanta Fed GDPNow indicator points to growth of 2.7 percent, suggesting some risk to the upside.

The Bank of Canada meets on Wednesday and is considered almost certain to cut its rates by a quarter point to 4.5 percent.

In currency markets, the dollar gave back just a little of last week's safe haven gains as the euro edged up 0.1 percent to US$1.0890. The dollar was flat on the Japanese yen at 157.51.

In commodity markets, gold held at US$2,407 an ounce and not far from last week's record high of US$2,483.60.

Oil prices inched higher, with scant sign of progress on a ceasefire deal in Gaza as Israeli forces battled Palestinian fighters in the southern city of Rafah on Sunday.

Brent gained 22 cents to US$82.85 a barrel, while U.S. crude rose 36 cents to US$80.49 per barrel.

(Reuters)

Bull statues are placed in font of screens showing the Hang Seng stock index and stock prices outside Exchange Square, in Hong Kong. (Reuters)

Asia stocks skid as China trims rates; Biden bows out