Wednesday's quarter-point rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve played second fiddle to regional issues in Asian trading today, with markets ending mixed.
The lackluster close in Asian indices vs. Wall Street's big gains breaks a recent trend in which Asia has been closely tracking the U.S. markets.
The Hang Seng rose 140 points, or 0.45% to 31,492.88, while in China the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 40 points, or 0.68%, to 5,914 points after Beijing increased the retail price of fuel by 10%. The yuan continued to stay strong vs. the dollar, at 7.4552 yuan.
"Most of Asia is tightening through currency appreciation despite the fact that the Fed is cutting," says Silvia Liu, economist at Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong. "Inflation is picking up and growth remains incredibly strong." ...
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