Asian shares flat after Fed hints of help for US

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Asian shares flat after Fed hints of help for US

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Hong Kong was down 0.60 percent, Seoul slipped 0.07 percent and Shanghai fell 0.45.

23 August,2012 10:45 am

Asian shares were broadly flat Thursday after the US Federal Reserve indicated it was leaning towards new economic stimulus efforts and debt-ridden Greece called for more time to make spending cuts.Tokyo was flat by the break following little movement on US markets while the yen remained firm against the dollar.Hong Kong was down 0.60 percent, Seoul slipped 0.07 percent and Shanghai fell 0.45 percent as investors awaited the announcement of preliminary China manufacturing data by HSBC later in the day. Sydney was up 0.12 percent.US stocks erased early losses to close mixed Wednesday after minutes of the Feds July 31-August 1 meeting hinted it was leading towards more stimulus action fairly soon unless economic data turns around. It followed heavy losses on European stock markets after Greeces Prime Minister Antonis Samaras called for more time to make spending cuts and reforms to unlock funds to keep the debt-wracked country afloat.All that we want is a little breathing space to revive the economy quickly and raise state income. More time does not automatically mean more money, Samaras said in an interview with German daily Bild, two days before crucial talks in Germany.Samaras met the head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, on Wednesday ahead of a trip on Friday to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Samaras is then to hold talks with French President Francois Hollande on Saturday as he tries to convince European partners to extend a deadline for spending cuts to keep the floundering nation in the 17-nation eurozone.Merkel on Wednesday dismissed the chances of agreeing to any request by Greece to amend its rescue package during the talks with Samaras.We wait for the report of the troika. Then we will decide, Merkel said.As part of a rescue package with its international creditors, known as the troika, Greece has committed to slashing 11.5 billion euros ($14.3 billion) of spending over two years from 2013.Samaras reportedly wants to discuss extending the deadline by two years.On Wednesday Londons FTSE 100 index of top companies fell by 1.42 percent to 5,774.2 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 dropped by 1.01 percent to 7,017.75 points, while in Paris the CAC 40 lost 1.47 percent to 3,461.65 points. Milan declined 1.10 percent and Madrid lost 2.70 percent.The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 30.82 points (0.23 percent) at 13,172.76. The broader S&P 500 index edged up 0.32 points to 1,413.49, while the tech-rich Nasdaq gained 6.41 points (0.21 percent) to 3,073.67.The dollar weakened against the Japanese currency, trading at 78.54 yen in early Tokyo trade compared with 78.53 yen in New York and 79.26 yen in Tokyo late Wednesday. The euro bought 1.2535 and 98.47 yen.The market is reacting in knee-jerk fashion to the stronger yen, Tatsunori Kawai, chief strategist at kabu.com Securities in Japan, told Dow Jones Newswires. But as long as the dollar holds around the 78 yen mark, stock prices should not be adversely affected, Kawai added.In oil markets, New Yorks main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October rose 43 cents to $97.69 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for October delivery gained 48 cents to $115.39.Gold was at $1,659.90 at 0240 GMT, compared to $1,642.15 on Wednesday.