Asia stocks dip before Fed meet, German court ruling; Nikkei down 0.82%

Investing.com - Asian stocks traded lower on Tuesday as investors sold and jumped to the sidelines to await policy announcements from the U.S. Federal Reserve later this week that might include plans to roll out monetary stimulus measures.

A German court mulling the constitutionality of participating in eurozone bailout operations may rule on the matter this week as well, further fueling the wait-and-see trading mood across Asian equities markets.

During Asian trading on Tuesday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.59%, Australia's S&P/ASX200 was down 0.27%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index was down 0.82%.

The U.S. government reported last week the economy created a net 96,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in August, well below market calls for 125,000 jobs and a figure that many investors saw as a tipping point that will nudge the Federal Reserve to roll out a third round of quantitative easing, possibly this week.

Under quantitative easing, the Fed buys assets such as Treasury holdings or mortgage-backed securities held by banks, pumping the economy full of fresh liquidity in a way that pushes down interest rates to encourage investing and hiring.

Such accommodative policies tend to weaken the dollar by design and send stocks rising worldwide.

The Fed opens its two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, though investors remained on the sidelines waiting for formal announcements.

Stocks also dipped as investors awaited a ruling from a German court, which is mulling whether participation in eurozone bailout programs violates the country's constitution.

An announcement could come this week.

In Hong Kong, top decliners included Hengan INTL, down 2.83%, China Merchant Holdings, down 2.41%, and CITIC Pacific, down 2.30%.

In Australia, top decliners included Murchison Metals, down 4.76%, Medusa Mining, down 4.49%, and Atlas Iron, down 4.00%.

European stock futures indicated a mixed opening.

France's CAC 40 futures pointed to a loss of 0.03%, while Germany's DAX 30 futures pointed to a loss of 0.02%. Meanwhile in the U.K., FTSE 100 futures indicated a gain of 0.02%.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.18% while the S&P 500 futures were down 0.13%.

Markets will stay focused on the Federal Reserve this week on expectations the U.S. central bank will announce plans to stimulated the U.S. economy.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, the U.S. will release its latest trade balance data.

Japan, meanwhile, is to produce its Tertiary Industry Index, which measures the change in the total value of services purchased by businesses.