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Asia Stocks Edge Up

Aussie rate cut spurs recovery in some markets, Nikkei down to 5-year-low

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 7, 2008 4:58 AM CDT

(Newser) – Asian stocks outside Japan made a modest recovery from yesterday's plunge after Australia slashed its interest rate a full percentage point to 6%, Reuters reports. Indexes in South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore all edged up slightly. In Japan, the Nikkei was down 3% to a 5-year low after the Bank of Japan announced it would keep interest rates unchanged.

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (1)]

A pedestrian with an economy magazine checks share prices indicated on a Tokyo brokerage's electronic board today as Japanese shares dropped to the lowest in almost five years. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

An employee of the Korea Stock Exchange works in front of an electronic stock price graph in Seoul, South Korea, today. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

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Investors believe global central banks could do anything. The next step could be coordinated interest rate cuts, interventions in the foreign exchange market or more fund injections into money markets. Who knows?
- Asset manager Tsutomu Soma

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Asia Stocks Edge Up