Asian Midday Marketwatch - Asian markets down across the region

Asian Midday Marketwatch with Brian Fernandez.

Brian shares on markets’ performance including:

Stocks across the region fell today , while the dollar held firm, in line with a cautious global mood as investors worried about the combination of slowing global growth and the potential tapering of central bank stimulus.

The European Central Bank is particularly in focus, with analysts expecting it to announce a token step towards reducing its emergency economic support later today.

Addison Pun, a senior market analyst at Saxo Markets, on the bearish global turn to strong U.S. job openings data overnight, which “means the job market is still strong, and that could mean tapering may still start in (the fourth quarter) despite the poor non-farm payroll in August,”.

Earlier this week, investors had bet the lower-than-expected payroll reading from Friday would mean the Federal Reserve would delay trimming its massive asset purchases, sending MSCI’s world equity index to a new all time on Tuesday.

However, the mood has turned more cautious since then, and several Fed policymakers on Wednesday signaled the US central bank remains on track to reduce asset purchases this year.