Asian stock markets fell on Thursday as a compromise over a $US789 billion stimulus bill for the United States only left investors wondering if the money will reach the economy fast enough.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid said negotiators had bridged differences between a $US820 billion House of Representatives version of the package and a $US838 billion version passed by the Senate.
Some 3.5 million jobs would be created under the package and that more than one-third of it would be dedicated to tax cuts and incentives for middle-class Americans, he said.
Japanese stocks fell early and never looked back, with the Nikkei share average tumbling 3% as traders returned from a public holiday.
The economic situation in Japan deteriorated by the day. A report on Thursday showed the first fall in wholesale prices in five years, an indication the world's second-largest economy may be entering a period of deflation.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slid 2.06%, with shares of Chinese lenders including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China among the biggest drags.
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks excluding Japan fell for a third day, with a positive contribution from Australia getting wiped out by losses in every other market.
Australia's benchmark index rose 1.1%, helped after data showed a surprise rise in employment figures for January. The S&P/ASX200 was up 39.9 points at 3,514.3, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 40.4 points, or 1.18%, to 3,458.5.
But optimism about the economy, struggling to evade a recession, could be short-lived.
After the stock market closed, the Australian dollar fell on news the country's parliament rejected a $A42 billion stimulus plan, delaying the timing of cash handouts to millions of workers and families.
In New Zealand, the benchmark index was up 20 points, or 0.73%, at 2750 on a turnover of $87 million.
