Asian stock markets september 12 2012

Asian stock markets september 12 2012 : Asian markets mostly retreated Tuesday following losses on Wall Street as dealers awaited a meeting of the US Federal Reserve policy committee hoping for a fresh round of stimulus measures. Attention was also on Germany, where a court is due to rule on the constitutional legality of Berlin taking part in a rescue fund set up to support under-pressure countries.

Tokyo fell 0.70 percent, or 61.99 points, to 8,807.38, Sydney closed 0.18 percent, or 8.0 points, lower at 4,325.8 and Seoul lost 0.24 percent, or 4.70 points, to close at 1,920.00. Shanghai ended down 0.67 percent, or 14.34 points, at 2,120.55 but Hong Kong staged a late rally to close 0.15 percent higher, adding 30.71 points to 19,857.88.

Recent weak economic data has led some to expect further stimulus, so investors are behaving cautiously until they see more policy signals, Euphoria has eased after Friday’s announcement from the European Central Bank that it will buy the sovereign bonds of debt-hit nations. As global markets anticipated a rapid international rescue for Spain, the eurozone’s fourth-biggest economy, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy refused to be rushed into a deal that dictates spending cuts or touches old-age pensions.

The Fed’s meeting has now become the main focus with hopes that Fed chief Ben Bernanke will unveil a third round of bond-buying, or quantitative easing, to kickstart the US economy, which has seen a stuttering recovery from the global downturn.

Those expectations were given more impetus Friday following a disappointing set of job figures.

With dealers taking a wait-and-see approach, Wall Street slid on Monday. The Dow finished down 0.39 percent, the S&P 500 dropped 0.61 percent and the Nasdaq shed 1.03 percent.

“Equity markets globally are consolidating after a pretty good run-up since late last week,” John Milroy, investment advisor at Macquarie Private Wealth in Australia, said.

US indexes were also hurt by the Fed’s announcement that consumer credit fell in July after 10 months of gains, raising concerns about confidence while unemployment remains high.

German judges are due Wednesday to rule on whether the eurozone’s 500-billion-euro ($640-billion) rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the EU fiscal pact are compatible with the country’s constitution.

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