Most of the Asian markets are trading higher in the early deals on Wednesday tracking cues from Wall Street where the major averages ended on a positive note overnight. Further, investors are looking ahead to the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision, due later in the day. It is expected that the Fed, which will trim down its monthly bond purchases by another $10 billion, may give some clues as to when it is likely to start hiking interest rates. The Japanese stock market opened on a bright note due to slight weakness of the yen. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan are notably higher. Singapore is up with modest gains, while Malaysia and Shanghai are down marginally.
Straits Times was increased 18.54 points or 0.57% to 3,291.16, Nikkei 225 rose by 18.00 points or 0.11 % to 15,929.53, Jakarta Composite surged by 55.06 points or 1.07% to 5,185.56, Hang Seng gained by 259.06 points or 1.07% to 24,395.07, KOSPI Index jumped by 15.29 points or 0.75% to 2,058.21 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 102.26 points or 1.12% to 9,235.66.
On the flip side FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined by 2.81 points or 0.15% to 1,844.49 and Shanghai Composite was down by 4.14 points or 0.18% to 2,292.41.