Asian Stocks Trade in Narrow Range Again

Asian stock markets were little moved in early trading Wednesday after investors in the U.S. seemed to pause and look back on a year of recovery from the market’s 12-year lows.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock average lost 0.12 percent to 10,555. And the Shanghai composite index fell 0.24 percent to 3,062.

The South Korean benchmark eased 0.22 percent to 1,657. Australian stocks slipped 0.14 percent to 4,813.

Markets in Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia all ticked slightly higher. In the Philippines, stocks rose 0.21 percent to 3,114.

The moves echoed Tuesday trading, when a sparse economic and corporate calendar left little to drive prices in either direction. In the U.S., investors await better job and housing news before growing more optimistic.

Tuesday in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial average rose 0.1 percent to 10,564.38. It is up 4,017 points, or 61.4 percent, above its close of 6,547 on March 9, 2009, but remains 25 percent below its peak of 14,164.53, reached in October 2007.

The S&P 500 index rose 0.2 percent to 1,140.45 on Tuesday. The index is up 68.6 percent in the past year. Including dividends, it’s up about 72 percent.

NEW YORK (AP)