By Wayne Cole
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian share markets swung lower on Tuesday after a four-week romp higher ran out of puff and investors took cover ahead of central bank meetings in the United States and Japan later in the week.
Bourses across the region were coloured red, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipping 0.7 percent.
China led the way with one of those sudden falls that have become all too common. The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen and the Shanghai Composite both shed 2.2 percent.
Dealers said there was no obvious news behind the fall, though some noted tensions in South China Sea as the U.S. Navy sent a destroyer within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands built by China.
Japan's Nikkei eased 0.7 percent, though remained near a two-month high.
Risk sentiment had been supported by China's rate cut last week and the prospect of more easing from the European Central Bank in December.
There has been speculation the Bank of Japan might expand its asset buying campaign at a policy meeting on Friday, though recent reports make it less likely.
Even less is expected from the U.S. Federal Reserve when it meets on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Investors are pricing in no chance of a rate hike this week, but could react to how the Fed's statement interprets recent soft U.S. economic data and events in global financial markets.
Markets are currently pricing in only a modest chance of a tightening in December.
"We continue to believe that ongoing uncertainty - and also liquidity concerns at the year-end - will keep this extremely risk-averse Fed on hold until the March 2016 meeting," says Michelle Girard, chief U.S. economist at RBSM.
"After that time, we look for the Fed to raise rates once per quarter."
On Wall Street, the Dow ended on Monday with a minor loss of 0.1 percent, while the S&P 500 eased 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq added 0.1 percent.
All eyes will be on Apple's results later Tuesday with investors anxious to hear how many new phones were sold by the world's most profitable company, and its guidance for the current quarter.
The U.S. dollar lost some of its recent gains following disappointing data on U.S. new home sales and a dip in Treasury yields. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was off 0.2 percent at 96.681.
The euro regained a little ground to $1.1065, having touched an 11-week trough of $1.0987 on Monday. Against the yen, the dollar lapsed back to 120.51 from Monday's top around 121.51.
Commodity markets continued to be dogged by concerns over plentiful supplies and weak demand. Three-month copper slipped 0.4 percent to $5,170 a tonne.
Crude oil stayed under pressure after two straight weeks of losses, on worries that the oversupply in oil products would swell from unseasonably warm weather and the waning maintenance cycle for U.S. refineries.
U.S. crude was down 56 cents at $43.42 a barrel, while Brent fell 42 cents to $47.12 a barrel.
(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
