There was an air of uncertainty on trading floors after the cancelled Russian mutiny but no panic as investors took their cues from the US and China

The threat of another round of central bank tightening across the globe deepened growth fears and sent Tokyo and Hong Kong stock indexes backwards

With the US Fed looking to stand firm on its aggressive inflation battle plan, gains were hard to find around the region’s bourses with Seoul the outlier

Asia’s investors were underwhelmed by China’s latest effort to kickstart its stumbling economy with a lower-than-expected loan rate cut

Asia’s stock indexes struggled with Tokyo’s benchmark falling despite the yen hitting a 7-month low and China’s central bank poised to cut rates again

Central banks were the key drivers of investor sentiment with optimism high the US Fed will ease back on its rate hikes and China poised to offer more stimulus

Japan’s benchmark snapped a winning run which had seen it reach 33-year highs while Hong Kong shares were lifted by policy support hopes

Tokyo’s benchmark reached another 33-year high but worries over China’s post-Covid bounceback dampened the mood elsewhere

Tokyo’s benchmark closed above the key psychological 33,000 level for the first time since July 1990 thanks to tech sector optimism

Investors across the region shied away from risk with central banks meeting this week and key economic figures from China and the US due out too

Japan’s benchmark fell its most in three months, trimming a blistering 15% surge over that period, while China stocks help steady

Investors were pulled in different directions on Wednesday with poor China data and global caution on one hand and Beijing policy support bets on the other