By Ian Chua
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares and the euro struggled on Wednesday after a bailout plan for Cyprus fell into disarray, but losses were limited on investors' hopes that a last minute deal was still within reach.
Cyprus's parliament overwhelmingly rejected a proposed tax on bank deposits as a condition for bailout aid, pushing the Mediterranean island a step closer to the brink of financial meltdown.
But the European Central Bank (ECB) offered some comfort by saying it was committed to providing liquidity within certain limits, even after having threatened to end emergency lending assistance for teetering Cypriot banks.
"It is relatively calm for now, but headline risks remain acute," said Sue Trinh, strategist at RBC in Hong Kong.
"Clearly the 'no' vote was not an ideal situation. The government now has to scramble for last minute options and it remains uncertain how exactly it will unfold."
The finance minister of Cyprus is in Moscow to scout for support amid speculation Russia could step up, while newly elected President Nicos Anastasiades is due to meet party leaders on Wednesday to explore a way forward.
The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat, having earlier carved out a fresh 2013 trough. The index is now down around 3 percent from this year's peak set a month ago.
South Korean shares lost 0.4 percent, while their Australian counterparts shed 0.1 percent. Hong Kong stocks edged up 0.8 percent, while Chinese shares climbed 1.7 percent, continuing to recover from Tuesday's fall to a 2-1/2 month low.
Japanese financial markets were shut for a holiday.
The mixed performance in Asia mirrored Wall Street, which saw the S&P 500 index close lower for a third day, while the Dow Jones industrial average ended flat after recouping early losses.
Commodity markets were also calmer with U.S. crude little changed at $92.35 a barrel. Copper was off a seven-month trough and spot gold held near a three-week high set on Tuesday.
EURO UNDER PRESSURE
Uncertainty surrounding Cyprus kept the euro pinned near four-month lows against the U.S. dollar. The euro fetched $1.2876, having fallen as far as $1.2844 overnight.
The common currency lost ground against the yen, shedding 0.2 percent to 122.35, near a two-week low of 121.45 plumbed Monday.
Yen bulls will be wary of any comments from Haruhiko Kuroda, who becomes governor of the Bank of Japan on Wednesday. Expectations that Kuroda will quickly embark on a much more aggressive monetary policy to fight deflation have recently pushed the yen to multi-year lows versus the euro and dollar.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback's performance against a basket of currencies, was flat at 82.971 but not far from a seven-month peak of 83.166 set a few days ago.
Investors will also keep an eye on the outcome of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting due to end later on Wednesday.
Analysts expect the Fed to keep buying $85 billion a month in mortgage and Treasury bonds to encourage investment and bolster a weak economic recovery.
"Overall, we expect the Fed to maintain its stance on asset purchases and forward guidance. At the press conference, we expect the chairman to continue to downplay the costs of asset purchases while highlighting the benefits," analysts at Barclays Capital wrote in a client note.
"With the Fed having shifted to unemployment rate-based guidance, the chairman's views on the overall labour market conditions, which take into account a broader set of indicators, would be parsed."
(Editing by Eric Meijer and Sanjeev Miglani)
