TOKYO: Asian shares eased and major currencies stayed range-bound on Thursday as investors avoided betting on direction before a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, with focus on whether there will be any hint about further U.S. stimulus. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched down 0.2 percent and Japan's Nikkei stock average opened down 0.1 percent. U.S. crude oil fell 0.4 percent to $95.11 a barrel on Thursday, after slipping the previous day as Gulf Coast refineries and platforms seemed to have escaped damage from Hurricane Isaac. European shares eased in thin volume while U.S. stocks edged higher on Wednesday in the lightest trading of the year, ahead of Friday's speech from Bernanke at the Jackson Hole meeting of central bankers and economists. The venue takes place before the Fed's Sept. 12-13 policy meeting, where expectations remain for the U.S. central bank to take some form of easing step to underpin the fragile economy.
Bernanke has used the Jackson Hole event in the previous two years to signal the Fed's easy policy intentions. U.S. Treasuries prices fell on Wednesday to make room for new debt supply, but losses were limited by expectations for an easing signal from Bernanke, as well as for the European Central Bank to take bold action to tackle the region's debt crisis.
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