Asian markets bounced back modestly this morning after two days of precipitous drops. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 10.72%, Japan's Nikkei average rose 2%, and the Topix index was up 2.5%. Sydney's index closed 4.4% higher, breaking a 12-day downturn, and India's Sensitive index saw its first gains in 8 days as traders expressed cautious optimism
"The problems we're seeing right now will work themselves out eventually," said one analyst. The Fed's emergency rate cut seems to have staunched panic selling and staved off a market meltdown, but increased fears of a US recession. The cut saw the dollar rise slightly against the yen in early trading, but it later fell as the markets gained. (More Asian markets stories.)