U.S. futures slipped and Asian stocks were mixed Tuesday as investors weighed a potential setback on progress toward a coronavirus vaccine against an overnight surge in technology shares. The dollar and Treasuries advanced.

S&P 500 contracts fell as much as 0.6% after a report that Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine study has been paused due to an unexplained illness in a participant. Stocks remained higher in Australia, with a more modest advance in Japan. They were little changed in South Korea and China, where economic data pointed to further recovery for global trade and a robust domestic rebound.

The Australian dollar slid amid reports that China has suspended purchases of Australian coal. Hong Kong scrapped its trading session as a tropical storm neared. Earlier, the S&P 500 closed higher for a fourth day and technology leaders including Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc. and Twitter Inc. helped the Nasdaq 100 to its biggest advance since April.

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FX Overnight News

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• Official data showed that China's exports grew at a slightly faster rate in September, up 9.9% on the year last month, compared with a 9.5% increase in August. This marks a fourth straight month of gains, suggesting that a global economic recovery is underway.
• European economic news was less impressive, with German consumer prices falling in September, confirming preliminary data, and the U.K. unemployment rate climbing to 4.5% in August, higher than expected.
• Also weighing was the news late Monday that Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) paused its Covid-19 vaccine candidate clinical trials due to an unexplained illness in a study participant.
• J&J's move follows a similar one by AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN), which paused late-stage trials of its experimental coronavirus vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, in September. Although clinical trials have resumed in the U.K. and a number of other countries, AstraZeneca's trials have yet to resume in the U.S.
• This news resonates as a number of European countries have posted record increases of Covid-19 cases in recent days. Authorities have been wary of reviving stringent national lockdowns, opting instead for localized measures such as those imposed in parts of the U.K. on Monday.
• Wall Street closed with strong gains Monday amid confidence that a clear-cut election victory for Democratic candidate Joe Biden - implicit in most of the recent polls -  will pave the way for a comprehensive recovery package in January.
• Oil prices pushed higher Tuesday, recovering after losses of just under 3% during the previous session, but excess output continues to plague the market along with ever-rising Covid-19 numbers hurting global demand.
• A slow economic recovery from the pandemic threatens to delay a full rebound in world energy demand to 2025, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday.

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Sources: Bloomberg, Investing.com, Reuters, Finviz