U.S. stock futures drop as risk appetites hit, Asia shares resilient

U.S. stock futures dropped but Asian shares were resilient on Monday as investors weighed the near-certain prospect of an interest rate hike in the United States this month against news of China's slower 2017 growth target.

Risk appetites also took a hit on rising geopolitical tensions in East Asia, as North Korea fired four ballistic missiles early in the day, while a spat between China and South Korea over missile defense deepened.

U.S. President Donald Trump's accusation that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped him also cast a shadow on U.S. stocks as some investors view his confrontational style as distracting him from his economic agenda.

U.S. stock futures ESc1 dropped as much as 0.45 percent, a fairly large move for Asian trade. Japan's Nikkei .N225 dropped 0.5 percent for the day.

European shares are expected to follow suit, with spread-betters looking to a fall of 0.3-0.4 percent in Germany's DAX .GDAXI and Britain's FTSE .FTSE.

But MSCI's broadest dollar-denominated index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.4 percent, with most markets in positive territory. South Korean shares also erased earlier losses .KS11 to post small gains.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Friday all but confirmed market expectations for an interest rate rise in March, barring any sharp deterioration in economic conditions.

U.S. money market futures FFH7 FFJ7 are pricing in about a 90 percent chance the Fed will raise interest rates by 0.25 percentage point at its meeting on March 14-15, with another rate hike fully priced in by September.