Asian shares drift without Federal Bank move

People learning how to trade saw Asian stocks fall today (December 14th) as the Federal Reserve failed to make any attempt at stimulating growth and Europe's sovereign debt crisis continued to affect global markets.

European stocks are also expected to move downwards later in the day as investors fret over an Italian bond auction, reports Reuters.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei average dropped 0.4 per cent, as did the MSCI Asia Pacific index. Underperforming Asian shares have been a feature of the last half of this year, partly influenced by the tendency of European institutions to repatriate funds from Asia Pacific markets.

Hiroichi Nishi, equity general manager at SMBC Nikko Securities in Tokyo, argued that a great deal of recent trading had been premeditated by the European situation.

"Investors continue to avoid risk as they look to possible sovereign debt downgrades in Europe," he told the news provider.

Reuters pointed out yesterday that the MSCI has lost 18 per cent overall in 2011, putting it 23 per cent down on the high reached in April.

Posted by Greg Secker