Japan bucked the bearish trend in Asia, as many expect the Bank of Japan to announce fresh easing measures by the end of this week
Stocks in Asia settled mostly lower today, as
weakness in oil prices continued to drag on energy shares. Additionally, many Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) suppliers edged south after the U.S. tech giant offered a relatively conservative holiday-quarter sales forecast. Elsewhere, Tokyo-listed stocks managed a positive finish, with many pricing in expectations for additional easing measures from the Bank of Japan when its policy meeting concludes on Friday. By the close, China's Shanghai Composite shed 1.7%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gave up 0.8%, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.1%, and Japan's Nikkei ticked 0.7% higher.
Conversely, many Europe-based Apple suppliers are trading higher at midday, as the company's fiscal fourth-quarter results topped analysts' profit and revenue expectations. In particular,
Dialog Semiconductor is up 8.1% in Frankfurt, bouncing back from sharp losses incurred earlier this week. However, regional gains are modest, as traders look ahead to this afternoon's policy update from the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). At last check, the German DAX is up 0.7%, France's CAC 40 has advanced 0.5%, and London's FTSE 100 is 0.4% higher.
