Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Tuesday, tracking the overnight gains on Wall Street. Weaker than expected U.S. economic data released overnight has helped ease concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates sooner than currently anticipated. The Federal Reserve will start its two-day monetary policy meeting later on Tuesday and make its monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, which may offer hints on an interest rate hike. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan as well as Indonesia's central bank will wrap up their monetary policy meetings and announce their decision on interest rates later on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei share average rose, due to expectations that companies could improve their return on equity will improve lifted overall sentiment. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan are in positive territory.
Nikkei 225 surged 199.31 points or 1.04% to 19,445.37, Hang Seng rose 73.42 points or 0.31% to 24,022.97, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI improved 4.75 points or 0.27% to 1,785.29, KOSPI Index added 38.07 points or 1.92% to 2,025.40, Shanghai Composite jumped by 40.16 points or 1.16% to 3,489.46, Jakarta Composite strengthen 1.16 points or 0.02% to 5,436.43, Straits Times increased 9.60 points or 0.28% to 3,385.64 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 40.83 points or 0.43% to 9,553.74.