(Updates with share prices, quotes, details)
By Rafael Nam
HONG KONG, March 18 (Reuters) - Most Asian stock markets
extended falls into a second day after China's premier
expressed doubts that the country could meet this year's
inflation target, fueling investor fears of rising interest
rates.
But some big markets such as Japan recovered some from a
sell-off on Monday amid expectations the Federal Reserve's
meeting later in the day will yield steep U.S. rate cuts.
European shares were also set to gain, with Britain's FTSE
100 <> and France's CAC-40 <> seen up as much as 1.6
percent, according to financial bookmakers.
"The Fed is doing everything they can to try to bring
stability to financial markets. But the last few rate cuts
haven't worked, so who knows?"," said Lucinda Chan, division
director at Macquarie Equities in Australia.
Still, nerves remain frayed, with the dollar staying weak
amid doubts about whether strong monetary easing in the United
States will be enough to tackle the global financial crisis
that threatens to further weaken the world's biggest economy.
Metals prices were also weak after Monday's sell-off amid
expectations of slowing demand, while oil remained well off a
record hit the previous days. Gold steadied around $1,000 an
ounce.
The MSCI's measure of Asian stocks outside Japan reversed
earlier gains to fall 0.3 percent as of 0635 GMT, trading close
to levels last seen in August.
The index had plunged 4.5 percent on Monday, leaving it
down 20 percent for the year and 29 percent below a Nov. 1
record.
Shares in Shanghai <> dived 4.3 percent to hit an
eight-month low, as investors dumped newcomers listed this
year, such as China Railway Construction <601186.SS>.
Hong Kong's main index <> fell nearly 2 percent, while
markets in India <> and Singapore <.FTSTI> were down less
than 1 percent.
Other big markets gained, with Tokyo's Nikkei snapping a
three-day losing streak as investors picked up stricken shares
such as Canon Inc <7751.T> after the benchmark average dropped
on Monday to its lowest since August 2005.
Shares in South Korea <> and Taiwan <> gained
under 1 percent each.
FED MEETING
Concern about financial market contagion and a U.S. economy
that is already believed to be in recession is likely to weigh
heavily on Fed policy makers later on Tuesday. []
Global markets had slumped on Monday after the Fed's
unexpected cut in a key lending rate and the bargain sale of
U.S. investment bank Bear Stearns <BSC.N> to JPMorgan Chase
<JPM.N> sparked fears of a deepening global credit crisis.
Fed funds futures are reflecting expectations the central
bank will cut its key fed funds rate by 1 percentage point from
the current 3 percent.
Sentiment will also be set by quarterly earnings from U.S.
financial firms, especially Lehman Brothers <LEH.N>, which is
due to report on Tuesday. The bank's shares closed 19 percent
lower on Monday on speculation it was vulnerable to the credit
crisis.
"We're hoping other major investment banks can weather the
credit crunch," said Jackson Wong, investment manager at
Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong. "Another failure will trigger
another sell-off and we'll go into a depression."
BOJ STANDOFF
The Fed's monetary easing comes as Asian economies are
dealing with inflation.
China's Premier Wen Jiabao said on Tuesday he was confident
rising prices could be controlled this year, but expressed some
doubts about whether the country will meet its consumer price
inflation target of 4.8 percent growth for the year.
"To be honest with you, it's not easy to achieve this goal,
especially given that we suffered very rare snowstorms in the
first two months of this year," Wen said on Tuesday.
The Bank of Japan is dealing with problems of its own.
The Japanese government nominated a former top finance
ministry official, Koji Tanami, as the next governor of the
Bank of Japan, but he could face the same fate as the previous
nominee Toshiro Muto, who was vetoed by opposition parties in
the upper house of parliament. []
The dollar steadied against other currencies ahead of the
Fed's meeting, trading at 97.20 yen <JPY=> after hitting a
nearly 13-year low of 95.77 yen on Monday. The euro held at
$1.5770 <EUR=>, down from a record of $1.5905 on Monday.
U.S. crude futures <CLc1> rose 43 cents to $106.11 a
barrel, gaining back some of the 4 percent they lost on Monday,
though well off a peak $111.80 hit that session.
But other commodities remained weak after the Reuters
Jefferies CRB Index <.CRB>, which tracks commodities futures,
fell about 5 percent on Monday, its sharpest one-day slide in
almost 40 years.
Gold <XAU=> was quoted at $1,000.10 per ounce, well off
from a record $1,030.80 hit on Monday.
Japanese government bond futures eased as investors booked
profits after debt prices had hit a five-year high on Monday.
June 10-year futures <2JGBv1> fell 0.70 point to 141.00, off a
five-year high 142.00 hit on Monday.
