By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Financials pulled Hong Kong and Australian stocks higher Thursday, lifted by strong earnings reported by a handful of major banks, while Tokyo and Shanghai ended lower as resources-related shares turned weak after a drop in commodity prices. Trading volumes were modest in several regional markets as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week. There is now growing anxiety among investors that the extent of monetary easing by the U.S. central bank could be smaller than previously anticipated. “In the past two months, markets had been running ahead of themselves in expecting too much from the Fed. Then again, exaggerating expectations is part of the price discovery process that often accompanies a policy event risk,” said Phillip Wee at DBS Group Research in Singapore. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NI225 9,366, -21.00, -0.22%) fell 0.2%, South Korea’s Kospi eased 0.1% and China’s Shanghai Composite (CN:SHCOMP 2,993, -4.47, -0.15%) gave up 0.2%. Among the markets that gained ground, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO 4,685, +36.72, +0.79%) and Taiwan’s Taiex added 0.8% each, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI 23,211, +46.28, +0.20%) ended 0.2% higher and India’s Sensex (XX:SENSEX 19,941, -216.02, -1.07%) rose 0.7% in afternoon trading. Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA 11,126, -43.18, -0.39%) futures suggested a modestly higher open for Wall Street. See more about higher U.S. stock futures in a busy session for corporate earnings. Strong earnings reports boosted bank stocks in Sydney and Hong Kong. Shares of Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (AU:ANZ 24.73, +0.69, +2.87%) (ANZBY 23.55, +0.11, +0.47%) added 2.9% after the company posted a 53% surge in full-year net profit to 4.5 billion Australian dollars ($4.34 billion). Earnings also helped shares of Agricultural Bank of China (HK:1288 4.08, +0.03, +0.74%) rise 0.3% and Bank of China (HK:3988 4.66, +0.10, +2.19%) (BACHY 14.65, -0.25, -1.68%) gain 2.2% in Hong Kong, as AgBank’s third-quarter profit surged 30% and Bank of China posted a 29% increase in profit. Resource stocks mostly declined, playing off Wednesday’s pullback in oil and other commodity prices. Inpex Corp. (IPXHF 0.00, 0.00, 0.00%) (JP:1605 431,000, -5,500, -1.26%) fell 1.3% and trading house Marubeni Corp. (MARUY 63.67, -0.43, -0.67%) (JP:8002 514.00, -8.00, -1.53%) lost 1.5% in Tokyo, as PetroChina Co. (PTR 122.83, -5.45, -4.25%) (HK:857 9.54, -0.05, -0.52%) shares sank 0.5% in Hong Kong and Sterlite Industries (SLT 15.57, -0.02, -0.13%) dropped 1.2% and Cairn India fell 0.8% in Mumbai trading. In Shanghai, Jiangxi Copper Co. (CN:600362 44.49, -0.70, -1.55%) (JIXAY 111.38, -6.12, -5.21%) lost 1.6% and Zijin Mining Group (CN:601899 9.62, -0.23, -2.34%) (ZIJMF 0.96, -0.07, -6.80%) surrendered 2.3%. In Sydney, however, a firm Australian dollar helped supported leading material stocks BHP Billiton (BHP 81.80, +1.08, +1.34%) (AU:BHP 41.99, +0.50, +1.21%) , up 1.2%, and Rio Tinto (RIO 65.19, +0.47, +0.73%) (AU:RIO 83.79, +1.44, +1.75%) , up 1.8%. Wariness for risk In Tokyo, commodity-related sectors overpowered gains in shares of a handful of companies such as Canon Inc. after they posted strong quarterly results.

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