Stocks are lower in Asia-Pac on Tuesday,.....>

STOCKS: Stocks are lower in Asia-Pac on Tuesday, taking a negative lead from the

US where the recent rally took a breather. The S&P 500 plunged on Monday, the

biggest single day decline since September, the sell off was attributed

primarily to rising yields ahead of the FOMC announcement on Wednesday.

- Yields have moved higher globally which has hit Asia-Pac stocks. In Japan the

index opened lower and added to losses as the session progressed. The Nikkei 225

last down 203 points at 23,426. Data released pre-market was mixed, while Retail

Sales and the Labour Market were strong, Household Spending at -0.1% was way

below estimates of 1.5%, the first annual drop in 2 months. All 11 sectors are

in the red on the Nikkei, the Energy sector is the laggard. The IT sector is

also suffering, dropping alongside Apple in the US on concerns over the latest

iPhone sales figures. In Australia the ASX 200 is down 32 points at 6,043,

dragged lower by the Materials sector, suffering due to a drop in metals - iron

ore is down around 1% to hit a 6-week low.

- In China the Shanghai Comp is down 18 points at 3,504, in Hong Kong the Hang

Seng is down 138 points at 32,820, the indices down for a 2nd consecutive day.