Asian stocks up as final bailout vote looms

HONG KONG -- MARKETS-JAPAN-STOCKS (UPDATE 2):Nikkei edges up as U.S. vote looms, financials gain

Asian markets on Monday initially greeted news of a financial bailout agreement in Washington with muted enthusiasm. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 was up less than 1% in mid-morning trading Monday. South Korean stocks were also up modestly.

Asian markets have been rocked repeatedly by Wall Street's tumult, so there was some relief at seeing U.S. political leaders cut a deal on the $700 billion rescue.

"This is an important first step," said Tatsuo Ishikawa, senior strategist for the Royal Bank of Scotland in Tokyo. "But there's still uncertainty, especially about the price at which the U.S. government will buy" distressed assets from fragile banks and investment firms.

"Finally, they've reached a plan," said Sherman Chan, economist with Moody's Economy.com in Sydney, Australia. But the fallout from the sub-prime crisis isn't over. she added. "We expect problems to continue well into 2009."

Chan also said that Asian economies still have plenty of problems of their own: sputtering economies, raging inflation, political uncertainty.