Asian stocks mostly lower on Fed doubts; Nikkei down 1.92%

Investing.com - Most Asian stocks traded lower Wednesday as traders absorbed regional data points and lamented discouraging comments from a member of the Federal Reserve Tuesday. In Asian trading Wednesday, Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 1.92% as USD/JPY traded lower. Riskier assets dipped after Federal Reserve member Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas Fed, said investors have become too dependent on the Fed backstopping riskier assets. In comments made in Oregon, Fisher said, "Financial markets may have become too accustomed to what some have depicted as a Fed ‘put,'' or the idea that the central bank will loosen credit after a market decline." The Bank of Japan started a two-day meeting Wednesday and it is widely expected BoJ will not add to its current stimulus program. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.18% while the Shanghai Composite inched down 0.05%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index dove 1.3% after the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that Australian home loans rose 2.7% in July following 1.7% gain in June. Analysts were expecting a July increase of 2%. The data also showed prices in Australia's eight major metro areas rose 2.4%. The housing data come a day after the Reserve Bank of Australia lowered its benchmark interest rate from 2.75% to a record low 2.5%, as expected. Commenting on the decision, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said the Aussie dollar "has depreciated by around 15% since early April, although it remains at a high level." Australia's jobs data, due out later Wednesday, is expected to show an unemployment rate of 5.7% a four-year high. New Zealand's NZSE 50 fell 0.39% after Statistics New Zealand said that New Zealand's unemployment rate rose to 6.4% in the second quarter from 6.2% in the first quarter. Analysts expected a second-quarter reading of 6.3%. New Zealand's employment change rose 0.4% in the second quarter following a first-quarter increase of 1.7%. Analysts expected the second-quarter increase of 0.4%. \In a separate report, Statistics New Zealand said that New Zealand's labor cost index was unchanged at 0.4% in the second quarter. Analysts expected a second-quarter reading of 0.5%. South Korea's Kospi slid 1.03% while Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.27%. S&P 500 futures dropped 0.15% a day after the benchmark U.S. index lost 0.57%.
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