Stocks slide as Fed's gloom spooks buyers

Asian stocks fell on Thursday, following a slide on Wall Street, as investors took fright at a warning from the Federal Reserve that the United States faced a grim economic outlook with "significant downside risks".

The dollar rose on the prospect of higher short-term interest rates after the Fed said it would sell $400 billion of short-term Treasury bonds to buy longer-dated debt in a widely predicted move known as "Operation Twist", aimed at stimulating the economy by forcing down long-term borrowing costs.

But it was the central bank's bleak assessment of the world's biggest economy that preoccupied markets, with oil and copper falling alongside stocks on fears of weakening demand, while some were disappointed that there were no bolder stimulus moves, given the extent of the Fed's pessimism.

"To be honest, I'm surprised to see so much risk aversion after the Fed," said Teppei Ino, a currency analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in Tokyo.

"I didn't think that many people had expected the Fed to expand its balance sheet, but it seems like some had been wishing for a bolder easing move."

Japan's Nikkei fell 1.6 percent, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan dropped more than 3 percent to a 14-month low, putting it 23.7 per cent below its 2011 high in April.

The twin fears of U.S. recession and a banking crisis brought on by Europe's sovereign debt woes have haunted equity markets in recent months and fuelled a sharp sell-off in early August and renewed weakness this month.

"TWIST" FAILS TO STIR

"Operation Twist" is the latest in a series of steps aimed at reviving an economy that has struggled to rebound from the 2008 financial crisis.

But investors worry that the Fed's latest plan will have little effect on lending in an economy that appears to be stagnating, which the Fed also noted.

U.S. stocks suffered their worst one-day drop in a month after the central bank wrapped up its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 index falling nearly 3 percent.

The dollar rose broadly, with the dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, gaining 0.7 percent to a seven-month high.

The euro was steady around $1.3575 after falling in the previous session, and hit a 10-year trough versus the yen - another benefactor of dampened risk sentiment - at 103.67 before recovering to trade around 104.20.

The Australian dollar , sensitive to expected demand for commodities, moved down towards parity with the U.S. dollar to trade around $1.0050, its lowest since Aug. 9.

Oil and copper, both influenced by expectations of industrial demand, slipped further.

Brent crude was down 1.2 percent at $109 a barrel and U.S. crude lost 1.3 percent to $84.84. Copper fell more than 3 percent to $8,050 a tonne, its lowest level since November.

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