* Traders bide for time before BOJ policy decision

* Ueda comments and tone in focus as BOJ likely to hold

rates

* Trump unhappy with latest Iranian proposal, official

says

* Big tech earnings to test strong AI rally in April

* Fed, ECB and BoE also to stand pat this week

By Ankur Banerjee

SINGAPORE, April 28 (Reuters) - Asian stocks held near

record highs and the dollar was muted on Tuesday as investors

weighed the geopolitical maelstrom in the Middle East and braced

for megacap earnings and a slate of central bank meetings, with

the Bank of Japan due later in the day.

While the U.S. was reviewing Tehran's latest proposal to

resolve the war in the Middle East, a U.S. official said

President Donald Trump was unhappy with the proposal because it

did not address Iran's nuclear program.

That leaves the two-month-long conflict in a stalemate with

energy and other supplies through the critical Strait of Hormuz

at a standstill.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

was down 0.12%, hovering near the record high it

touched on Monday. The index is on course for a 17% rise in

April after dropping 13.5% in March.

Japan's Nikkei was down 0.5% after scaling a fresh

record peak in the previous session. The S&P 500 eked out

modest gains on Monday, poised for about 10% gain for the month.

U.S. stock futures were 0.1% higher in Asian hours on

Tuesday.

Global monetary policy will be in the spotlight this week as

the BOJ, the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the

European Central Bank are due to announce policy decisions. All

are expected to stand pat on rates but attention will be on

comments from policymakers on the impact of the war on prices.

The BOJ is widely expected to hold off raising interest

rates on Tuesday, but drop hawkish signals to leave itself scope

to push up borrowing costs in coming months to counter

inflationary pressure from the Middle East conflict.

Markets are focusing on the BOJ's quarterly outlook report

and comments from Governor Kazuo Ueda for clues on how the

protracted Iran war affects its rate-hike path.

The yen was at 159.33 per U.S. dollar, still near

the 160 level that traders have been worried about as a breach

beyond it might spur Tokyo to step in to support the currency.

The yen has been straddling 159 since early March.

"The BOJ is likely to stay highly sensitive to market

volatility," said Fred Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC.

"Our base case remains one single 25 basis point hike this year

in July, but a June rate rise becomes more likely if the Strait

of Hormuz is still effectively closed after mid-May."

The euro was steady at $1.1725, with the dollar

index, which measures the U.S. currency against six major

units, at 98.452.

The dollar benefited in March from safe-haven flows as the

war erupted but shed most of those gains on hopes of a peace

deal this month. It has steadied in recent days after U.S.-Iran

talks stalled.

The war has also sent oil prices surging, fuelled inflation

and cast a shadow over the outlook for global growth, with the

closure of the strait, which normally carries a fifth of global

oil and gas shipments, a key risk.

Brent crude futures edged up to $108.13 a barrel,

near a three-week high. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was

at $96.48. Oil prices are well above the pre-war levels but have

come down from their peak on hopes for a peace deal.

Investors are also focusing this week on earnings from tech

giants Microsoft ( MSFT ), Alphabet, Amazon ( AMZN ),

Meta Platforms ( META ) and Apple ( AAPL ) that will be a test

for the blistering AI-driven rally in April.

Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise,

said the earnings will provide the market with a real-time read

on whether AI investment is translating into commercial results.

"The divergence between equity market optimism and the more

cautious signals from bond and oil markets, however, reinforces

the view that geopolitical developments remain an active and

important variable in risk management," said Saglimbene.