Singapore: Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday as traders mulled comments by US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that suggested the world's largest economy faces a slow recovery.
Bernanke told a congressional committee that the economic outlook is "unusually uncertain" and the economy is fragile. He did not forecast that it would fall back into recession.
Some analysts worry that slowing economic growth in developed countries in the second half will undermine demand for Asian exports and hurt company earnings.
"We're bearish for the rest of the year," said Tey Tze Ming, a trader at Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore. "We have a bleak economic outlook on the US and Europe and it's hard to see Asian stocks doing well in that context."
Japan led decliners, with its benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average slipping 0.5 per cent to 9,229.42 while South Korea's Kospi fell 0.7 per cent to 1,736.72. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.2 per cent to 20,449.94. Markets in India and Malaysia were also lower.
China's Shanghai benchmark index rose 0.6 per cent to 2,551.71 while Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia all gained less than 1 per cent.
