TOKYO (AP) -- Most Asian stock markets fell modestly Wednesday on disappointment that the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates a quarter point, not the more aggressive half-point that some had hoped for.

After tumbling in early trading, benchmark indices across the region pared losses in afternoon trading as investors snapped up shares that had fallen to attractive levels.
“The market decided that the turmoil wasn't going to be that great after all,” said Yukio Takahashi, analyst at Shinko Securities Co. in Tokyo.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index finished down 0.7 percent at 15,932.26, after declining more than 2 percent earlier. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, which had lost nearly 3 percent in morning trading, fell 2.4 percent to 28,521.06.
Key indices in Australia and Singapore both fell about 1 percent, but South Korea's benchmark index recovered all its losses to close 0.1 percent higher.
India's stock market also advanced.
Overnight, the Fed lowered its benchmark interest rate a quarter percentage point to 4.25 percent, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down 2.1 percent.
U.S. policymakers were widely expected to lower rates for a third straight time to help the economy overcome a credit and mortgage crisis, though there was debate over the size of the cut. Most economists anticipated a quarter-point reduction but some were hoping for a half-point cut. When the Fed settled for the smaller cut, disappointed investors sent Wall Street lower.
Asian investors pay close attention to the American economy because it is a vital export market, and uncertainty over the outlook for the U.S. has dragged on sentiment in recent months.
In Tokyo, traders were cheered by the dollar's recovery to 111 yen levels, which helps Japan's exporters by making their products more competitive overseas. Sony Corp. ended up 0.2 percent at 6,240 yen after losing as much as 2.2 percent earlier, and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. recovered to gain 1.3 percent.
Matching the Fed's move, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority also cut its base rate by 25 basis points to 5.75 percent Wednesday. The territory's rates tend to track those in the U.S. because the local currency is pegged to the dollar.
Property stocks were the biggest decliners in Hong Kong after their recent run-up amid expectations that they would benefit from lower interest rates.
Some analysts said the latest fall makes the territory's stocks attractive. However, they warned that continued market concerns in the U.S. and inflationary worries in China would weigh on the local bourse in the short term.
“We see any pullback in the local market today, following the overnight U.S. market plunge, as a good buying opportunity, as the asset inflation story in Hong Kong remains solid,” said Ernie Hon, a strategist at ICEA.
On the mainland Chinese market, stocks fell as investors sold banks and property developers on worries the government will move to tighten credit after figures released Tuesday showed that inflation rose 6.9 percent in November, the highest in 11 years.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.5 percent to 5,095.54.