Asian Shares Retreat On China Stimulus Disappointment

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks declined on Tuesday, with Hong Kong markets leading regional losses as China's National Development and Reform Commission pledged more measures to boost the Chinese economy but gave little in the way of details.

The dollar consolidated near a seven-week high while gold edged down slightly after a Federal Reserve official urged a cautious path on interest-rate cuts. Investors looked ahead of key U.S. inflation readings and the release of the Fed's latest meeting minutes this week for additional clues on the Fed's rate trajectory.

Oil prices were down nearly 2 percent in Asian trading after recent strong gains.

Chinese markets rallied as trading resumed after a weeklong holiday. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index ended up 4.59 percent at 3,489.78, giving up some early gains.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index plummeted 9.41 percent to 20,926.79 as a highly anticipated announcement on plans to boost China's ailing economy disappointed investors.

Japanese markets tumbled as better-than-expected Japanese household spending data lifted demand for yen and dampened exporters' shares.

The Nikkei average dropped 1 percent to 38,937.54, snapping a three-day winning streak. The broader Topix index settled 1.47 percent lower at 2,699.15. Technology startup investor SoftBank Group fell 1.9 percent to drag the Nikkei index the most.

Seoul stocks ended lower due to Middle East concerns and uncertainty around the Fed rate path. The Kospi average dropped 0.61 percent to 2,594.36.

Australian markets ended lower, dragged down by mining and tech stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.35 percent to 8,176.90 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 0.42 percent lower at 8,443.70.

Regenerative medicine company Orthocell soared 7.3 percent after receiving regulatory approval to commence sales of its nerve repair product, Remplir in Singapore.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index slid 0.32 percent to close at 12,555.99.

U.S. stocks fell sharply overnight as traders pared bets on aggressive Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts and fretted about the impact of rising oil prices on inflation and interest rates.

The Dow dipped 0.9 percent, the S&P 500 shed 1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.2 percent as Treasury yields climbed above 4 percent for the first time since August.