The fears turned out to be totally without merit, but the accommodation by the Fed caused the NASDAQ Composite to move up 86% to 5100 in six months.

FORBES: Fed Juice Has Always Helped Stocks Sprint Higher

The new highs peaked at 304 on February 1 and then started to decline even though the NYSE Composite continued to move higher.

FORBES: Analyzing The Market's Health

The daily chart of the NYSE Composite shows the sharp move above the 2011 high of 8, 718.25, which now becomes first support.

FORBES: Are You Ready for a February Surprise?

Although South Korea's Kospi Composite briefly managed to move into positive territory just before Bank of Korea's policy announcement, the index quickly slipped back, ending 0.8% lower at 1933.09.

WSJ: Spain Downgrade Hits Asian Shares

This one, for example, from the OECD, shows how a composite of leading indicators - the red line - often move about six months before another measure of real economic activity.

BBC: The popcorn route to recovery

The other sharp equities move in Asia was in the Philippines, where the PSE Composite dropped 3.2% as strong first quarter growth data beat expectations, triggering profit-taking in a market that has already gained 21% so far in 2013.

WSJ: Tokyo Shares Down Sharply