Stocks in Asian were mixed on Wednesday as the spotlight turned to the US Federal Reserve and its assurance that it will would keep its bond-buying programme in place.

Fed Chief Ben Bernanke defended its $85bn per month bond-buying programme, saying: "We do not see the potential costs of the increased risk taking in some financial markets as outweighing the benefits of promoting a stronger economic recovery. Inflation is currently subdued and inflation expectations appear well anchored."

Elsewhere headlines about the uncertainty surrounding the Italian elections rattled market confidence as no one group secured a clear majority in parliament.

Voters overwhelmingly favoured anti-austerity parties, which also rekindled fears about how the government will vote in reforms to reduce the nation's debt pile.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 144 points at 11,253 in Tokyo while the Hang Seng added 57 points at 22,577 in Hong Kong.

Exporters were sold-off on concern that the Eurozone debt crisis will reignite in the wake of the Italian elections.

Honda Motor dropped 2.5%, Nissan Motor eased 1.5% while Panasonic retreated 1.8%.

In Hong Kong insurer AIA surged 4.1% after it posted better than expected full year results. Annual net profit surged 89% to $3.02bn.

Banks enjoyed gains with shares of Hang Seng Bank up 0.65% and Bank of East Asia up 0.64%.



CJ

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