ASIA MARKETS: Asian Stocks Fall; Tokyo Down Ahead Of Holidays

By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Most Asian markets declined Thursday, tracking losses in the U.S. after the Federal Reserve's monetary-policy decision, with Japanese stocks dragged further down by a strengthened yen and caution ahead of a long weekend.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gave up 0.4% to stay on course for its fourth straight trading day of losses, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 also shed 0.4%.

South Korea's Kospi was down 0.2% in choppy trade as the market reopened after Wednesday's holiday.

"With the Federal Reserve reaffirming their dedication to current stimulus measures ... economic data will likely have greater weight on equity market performance. So if the current theme of negative data surprises continues, we could see equity markets catch up with the recent selloff in commodity markets," said Rivkin Securities global analyst Tim Radford.

Stocks on Wall Street suffered sharp losses overnight after the Federal Open Market Committee said the U.S. central bank would continue buying $85 billion in bonds each month, but may raise or cut the program, subject to economic conditions.

U.S. data showing a weak jobs addition by private employers, and tepid growth in manufacturing also weighed on markets.

The broad drop in Asian equities came ahead of the Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls data and the European Central Bank monetary-policy meeting later Thursday, where the central bank was expected to cut interest rates amid weakening economic indicators.

In Asia, HSBC was scheduled to release the final result of its April survey of manufacturing conditions in China, after a preliminary reading showed cooling activity at mainland Chinese factories. Markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong were also set to reopen, after an official gauge of Purchasing Managers' Index for April came in weaker than expected on Wednesday.

Over in Tokyo, exporters were among the top decliners on Thursday as the yen strengthened further against the U.S. dollar (USDJPY).

Among them, Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY) lost 2.2%, and Bridgestone (BRDCY) shed 1.9%.

The decline also came ahead of a long weekend, with Japanese markets closed on Friday and Monday.

On the upside, Sharp Corp. (SHCAY) jumped 2.2% after a Nikkei newspaper report that some banks were considering extending a 100-billion-yen ($1.01 billion) credit facility to the electronics company ahead of an upcoming bond redemption.

Panasonic Corp. (PCRFY) edged up 0.1% after a separate Nikkei report that the company had unloaded shares worth about Yen100 billion in firms such as Toyota Motor Corp. Toyota (TM) stock lost 1.1%.

Minutes of the Bank of Japan's last meeting in April, released earlier on Thursday, showed the central bank's board members felt it was necessary for the bank to "enter a new phase of monetary easing."

In Sydney, the resource sector came under further selling pressure after a drop in commodity prices overnight.

Shares of mining heavyweight BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) dropped 0.7%, and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (FSUMY) shed 2%.

Macquarie Group Ltd. (MCQEF) rose 0.7%, however, after The Australian reported the financial company was aiming for control of a portfolio of nine investment schemes managed by collapsed logging firm Gunns.

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