SYDNEY, March 18 (Reuters) - Asian shares are set for a 
lacklustre start on Tuesday, as persistent concerns about a 
deepening credit crisis weigh on sentiment and caution rules 
ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate setting meeting. 
    While there are expectations of a U.S. interest-rate cut of 1 
percentage point later on Tuesday, many question just how much 
the Fed can help ease problems in cash-starved credit markets. 
    On Wall Street on Monday, the Dow ended slightly higher, but 
the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell after JPMorgan Chase & Co's 
<JPM.N> deal to buy brokerage Bear Stearns at a rock bottom price 
failed to dispel fears of deeper fallout from the escalating 
credit crisis. 
    Asian stocks listed on Wall Street <.BKAS> lost 2.1 percent, 
while the MSCI's measure of Asia Pacific stocks excluding Japan 
<.MSCIAPJ> dropped 4.5 percent overnight. 
    HEADLINES: 
> Dow rises, S&P and Nasdaq down after Bear deal    [nN17622534] 
> Bear fire sale stuns investors, Bush tries to calm[nL17118660] 
> MF Global seeks to calm investors as stock plunges[nN17600073] 
> Carlyle Capital bankrupt, to wind up fund         [nN16518313] 
> Lehman Brothers' debt protection costs rise 40 bps[nN17560039] 
> Investor Ross buys H&R Block mortgage service unit[nN17552319] 
> Dollar sells off after Fed's emergency measures   [nN17592955] 
> Oil slides nearly 6 pct as funds cut positions      [nT233347] 
> US March home builder index holds near low -NAHB  [nNAT003817] 
> Deepening US slump envelops factory sector        [nN17556614] 
> Bank rout hits ADRs, Japanese exporters sink      [nN17599016] 
> China's Chalco '07 net down 13.5 pct, below f'cast[nHKG298943] 
> Kookmin to buy Kazakh bank stake for $634 mln     [nSEO276637] 
    KEY INDEXES                                   pct change 
    Bank of New York Asia ADR index <.BKAS>            -2.07 
    Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI>                +0.18 
    Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC>                     -1.60 
    MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan <.MSCIAPJ>              -4.51 
    Nikkei futures in Chicago <2NKc1>                  -2.52 
    Nikkei futures in Osaka <JNIc1>                    -0.09 
    -- 
    ASIAN ADR ACTION: 
    5 most actively traded:                 price change/pct 
    TSMC               <TSM.N><2330.TW>                -1.82 
    ICICI Bank         <IBN.N><ICBK.BO>               -12.84 
    Infosys Tech       <INFY.O><INFY.BO>               -2.74 
    UMC                <UMC.N><2303.TW>                +4.11 
    BHP Billiton       <BHP.N><BHP.AX>                 -5.37 
    Top 5 performers:                       price change/pct 
    Hutchison Tel      <HTX.N><2332.HK>                +4.40 
    UMC                <UMC.N><2303.TW>                +4.11 
    Kubota Corp.       <KUB.N><6326.T>                 +1.82 
    Internet Initiative<IIJI.O><3774.T>                +1.81 
    Advantest          <ATE.N><6857.T>                 +1.78 
    Worst 5 performers:                     price change/pct 
    ICICI Bank         <IBN.N><ICBK.BO>               -12.84 
    Rio Tinto          <RPT.N><RIO.AX>                 -9.58 
    SMIC               <SMI.N><0981.HK>                -9.57 
    Shanghai Pechem    <SHI.N><0338.HK>                -9.08 
    Chartered Semi     <CHRT.O><CSMF.SI>               -7.96 
    TOP ASIA EVENTS: 
    For more Asian company earnings, see [ASIA/EQTY] 
    JAPAN     - Ricoh Co Ltd <7752.T> unveils midterm business 
                plan 
                Japan bankers association head holds news 
                conference 
                Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan 
                announces February book-to-bill ratio 
    S.KOREA   - February department and discount stores' sales 
                Cabinet meeting 
                January household lending data 
                Mirae Asset Securities <037620.KS> to hold a news 
                conference 
    HONG KONG - AcrossAsia Ltd <8061.HK>, Alibaba.com Ltd 
                <1688.HK> final results, Champion Technology 
                Holdings Ltd <0092.HK>, China Aerospace 
                International Holdings Ltd <0031.HK>, China 
                Insurance International Holdings Co Ltd <0966.HK> 
                China Merchant Bank Co Ltd <3968.HK>, China State 
                Construction International Holdings Ltd <3311.HK> 
                China Zenith Chemical Group Ltd <0362.HK>, 
                Computech Holdings Ltd <8081.HK> 
    SYDNEYm   - Minutes of Reserve Bank of Australia's March 2008 
                monetary policy meeting 
 (Reporting by Geraldine Chua; Editing by Tomasz Janowski) 
 (([email protected]; Reuters Messaging: 
[email protected]; +612 9373-1818)) 
    For top Asian company news, double click on:       [nTOPEQA] 
 U.S. company news    [TOP/EQU]  European company news [TOP/EQE] 
 U.S. weekly outlook     [.N/O]  European weekly outlook [.EU/O] 
 Forex news           [TOP/FRX]  Global Economy news [TOP/MACRO] 
 Tech/Telecoms/Media  [TOP/TMT]  Banking news          [TOP/FIN] 
 Political/General news  [TOP/G] Asia Macro data     <ASIATODAY> 
    ASIA STOCK MARKETS: 
 Pan-Asia........[STXNEWS/AS] Japan.......[.T]   S.Korea...[.KS] 
 S.E. Asia.......[.SO]        Hong Kong...[.HK]  Taiwan....[.TW] 
 Australia/NZ....[.AX]        India.......[.BO]  China.....[.SS] 
    DIARIES & DATA: 
 IPO diary/data  <ASIA/IPOMENU>  Asia earnings diary [ASIA/EQTY] 
 U.S. earnings diary  [RESF/US]  European diary     [WEU/EQUITY] 
 Hong Kong diary     [HK/DIARY]  Wall Street Week Ahead   [.N/O] 
 Eurostocks Week Ahead  [.EU/O] 
   LIVE PRICES & DATA: 
 World Stocks      <0#.INDEX>     Asian Stocks      <0#.INDEXA> 
 Dow Jones/NASDAQ  <.DJI>/<.IXIC> Nikkei                <.N225> 
 FTSE 100          <.FTSE>        Debt     <0#USBMK=> <EURIBOR> 
 Currency rates    <AFX=> <EFX=> <NFX=> 
Keywords: MARKETS ASIA