Fed Chief's comments weigh on Asian stocks

Asian stocks sank yesterday following a downbeat economic assessment by US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and persistent worries about European banking "stress tests".

Tokyo edged down 0.68 percent, weighed also by a strengthening Yen - a dampener on the all-important export sector.

The Nikkei Index fell 63.53 points in the morning to 9,215.30, while the Topix Index of first-section shares lost 0.53 percent.

Traders took their cue from Wall Street's 1.07 percent fall following the Federal Reserve chairman's bearish presentation to Congress on Wednesday.

Bernanke said the outlook remained "unusually uncertain" while stopping well short of saying action to stimulate the economy was imminent.

"It is pretty obvious looking at the way markets have been trading of late that there is a lot of uncertainty over the growth outlook, Khoon Goh, Senior Economist at ANZ bank in Wellington, told Dow Jones Newswires.