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By Bloomberg

Asian stock futures were mixed following a selloff in commodities and technology shares, while New Zealand’s dollar gained as the central bank omitted a reference to its level being unjustified after cutting interest rates.

Japanese index futures climbed in most recent trading, while contracts on Hong Kong equity gauges retreated. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 Index added 0.2 percent by 8:48 a.m. in Tokyo after Apple Inc. drove a 1.1 percent decline in the index. The kiwi climbed as much as 1.2 percent against the dollar after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand said inflation will return to near its target next year even as the economic outlook softens. U.S. crude and gold maintained losses. Copper futures advanced.

Better-than-expected earnings from the likes of Boeing Co. and good housing data tempered the impact of losses among technology companies and Apple suppliers worldwide Wednesday. A gauge of commodities returned to a 13-year low, with a rout that started in gold infecting other metals, oil and farm products. South Korea reported weaker growth Thursday and U.S. jobless claims data is due, with investors trying to gauge the timing for the first rate increase there since 2006.

“There’s a fear the world economy is slowing and that’s why commodities from iron ore to oil, gold and silver are all going down,” Jim Bianco, Chicago-based president of Bianco Research LLC, said on Bloomberg TV. “This has been a ho-hum earnings season.”

Not Dovish

The kiwi rose to 66.29 U.S. cents and gained 0.7 percent against neighboring Australia’s dollar. Despite the rate cut, the central bank’s statement “was not as dovish as markets were prepared for, particularly concerning the exchange rate,” economists at Westpac Banking Corp. in Auckland wrote in a client note after the decision.

Yields on New Zealand’s 10-year government bonds fell two basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 3.41 percent, while the NZX 50 Index slipped 0.1 percent.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, a gauge of the U.S. currency versus 10 major peers, was little changed after rising 0.3 percent Wednesday, its fifth advance in six days. Odds the Federal Reserve will boost rates in September are at 50 percent, unchanged from where they were in June, according to economists’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Fed policy makers next meet July 28-29.

The yen was little changed for a second day, at 124.03 per dollar, while the euro was at $1.0926. Commodity currencies led losses last session, with the Brazilian real, Canadian dollar and South African rand down at least 0.7 percent. One-month non- deliverable forwards on Korea’s won were down 0.4 percent in recent trading.

Asian Futures

In the equity futures market, contracts on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average were bid for 20,620 in the Osaka pre-market, from 20,560 in Japan Wednesday.

Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index were down less than 0.1 percent amid the commodities slump, and contracts on the Kospi index in Seoul were also little changed with those on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks mainland stocks listed in Hong Kong. Hang Seng Index futures lost 0.2 percent, while contracts on the FTSE China A50 Index added 0.2 percent. CSI 300 Index futures fell 0.6 percent.

Gold for immediate delivery was little changed at $1,093.88 an ounce after sinking 0.6 percent last session, while copper futures on the Comex added 0.2 percent to $2.4335 a pound following Wednesday’s 1.9 percent slide. The Bloomberg Commodity Index sank 1.1 percent last session to its lowest close since April 2002, led by metals and crude oil.

West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed at $49.24 a barrel after slipping 3.3 percent Wednesday to its lowest level since the start of April. WTI is approaching a bear market again, down almost 20 percent in six weeks amid resurgent concerns over a global supply glut.

U.S. oil inventories rose by 2.47 million barrels last week, Energy Information Administration data showed, defying the 2.2 million-barrel drop forecast by analysts. Supplies climbed as refineries processed crude at a record pace and the nation’s oil output was steady near the highest level in more than 40 years