Asian market fall as Fed disappoints and on weak Chinese data

All the Asian markets barring Japanese Nikkei ended day's trade in the negative territory as the US Federal Reserve's policy announcement disappointed some investors who had expected more aggressive policy measures. The Fed extended its so called 'Operation Twist' programme of selling short-term securities and buying longer-dated ones as expected, but did not signal another round of quantitative easing. Though, it said it expects economic growth to continue to grow moderately over coming quarters and then to pick up gradually but it lowered its expectations for US GDP growth in 2012, going to a range of 1.9-2.4% from 2.4-2.9%.

Moreover weak Chinese manufacturing data also dampened investor’s sentiments. The HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index fell to 48.1 in June compared with a final reading of 48.4 in May. It was the eighth straight month of a reading below 50, which indicated contraction from the previous month.