(Updates to US late morning trade)

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Japan and South Korea face 25% tariffs by August 1

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Aussie dollar rises as RBA keeps rates on hold

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US Treasury yields up

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, July 8 (Reuters) - Major stock indexes were

little changed on Tuesday as investors digested the latest news

in U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff rollout, and the yen

extended its slide against the dollar on planned 25% duties on

goods from Japan.

On Monday, Trump sent letters to 14 countries, including major

Asian trading partners such as Japan and South Korea, saying

they face sharply higher tariffs on imports into the United

States starting from a new date of August 1.

Stocks sold off on Monday but market reactions have not been

as severe as in the aftermath of Trump's sweeping tariff

announcement in early April. Some market watchers

expect countries to seek trade deals with the United States

before the new deadline.

European stocks held firm, with sources saying the European

Union will not be receiving a letter setting out higher tariffs

and that the EU could reach a trade deal by Wednesday.

"It's kind of a sluggish day. People digested the tariff

news yesterday, and we saw weakness. People are kind of on hold

until we start seeing second-quarter earnings come out," said

Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in

Charlottesville, Virginia.

S&P 500 companies will soon begin reporting on the quarter

that ended June 30.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 101.09 points,

or 0.23%, to 44,305.27, the S&P 500 fell 2.26 points, or

0.04%, to 6,227.72 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.33

points, or 0.01%, to 20,413.85.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell

0.36 points, or 0.04%, to 919.57. The pan-European STOXX 600

index rose 0.33%.

Hopes of trade deals buoyed risk appetite for regional

assets on Tuesday as MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific

shares outside Japan rose 0.5%, while Japan's

Nikkei reversed early declines and finished 0.26%

higher.

Southeast Asia's biggest economies are among those facing the

highest U.S. tariffs. South Korean shares recorded

their strongest daily gain in two weeks and the won

firmed 0.4%.

The lack of progress on trade has loomed over markets since

Trump capped in April what he called reciprocal tariffs with

trading partners at 10% for three months to allow for

negotiations.

Only two agreements, with Britain and Vietnam, have been reached

and in June, Washington and Beijing agreed on a framework

covering tariff rates.

Minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting will be released

on Wednesday. The central bank has been taking a wait-and-see

approach to monetary policy.

The export-dependent Japanese yen hit a two-week

low of 146.65 per dollar and also weakened against a host of

other currencies. Against the yen, the dollar was last up

0.6% at 146.9.

The Australian dollar rose after the country's

central bank defied market expectations and left its cash rate

steady at 3.85%.

U.S. Treasury yields rose, with investors awaiting

Treasury's sales of $119 billion in coupon-bearing debt this

week. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes was

last up 3.6 basis points at 4.431%, the highest level since June

20.

U.S. crude rose 0.19% to $68.06 a barrel and Brent

rose to $69.86 per barrel, up 0.4%.