Asian stocks fell as the Federal Reserve’s move to raise discount rate took commodities lower and speculation went around that the Central bank may also withdraw stimulus measures. Kenichi Hirano, general manager and strategist at Tokyo-based Tachibana Securities Co., said: "The US has started moving toward the exit of stimulus measures. Though it’s necessary, the move is making investors jittery and is a short-term negative for the market.”
Masayoshi Okamoto, head of dealing at Jujiya securities, gave a larger picture to market movement: "Put the US move together with last week’s Chinese bank reserve requirement hike, which has yet to be reflected in Shanghai, and markets can’t ignore them. After all, these are two of the world’s largest economies. Yet the US move isn’t really a bad one. While it may be tough for markets for several days, over the mid-term it’s probably not so negative."
The Nikkei 225 fell 212 points to 10,123. The Hang Seng index shed 528 points to 19,894.