Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Wednesday despite markets waited anxiously for the Federal Reserve to provide guidance on the risk of US rate hikes this year. The US Federal Reserve will conclude its two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday and the Bank of England will make wrap up its meeting on Thursday. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but traders will pay close attention to the wording of the accompanying statement. Meanwhile, the Japanese market is marginally lower, with a stronger yen weighing on exporters' shares. Among the other Asian markets, Shanghai, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia are up with modest gains. Bucking the trend, Hong Kong, and Indonesia are marginally lower.
Shanghai Composite added 4.02 points or 0.14% to 2,868.39, Straits Times gained 0.04 points to 2,839.48, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI jumped 1.31 points or 0.08% to 1,692.23, Taiwan Weighted increased 63.52 points or 0.74% to 8,674.70, and KOSPI Index was up by 0.70 points or 0.04% to 1,970.67.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 dipped 125.33 points or 0.73% to 16,991.74, Hang Seng dropped 109.58 points or 0.54% to 20,179.19, and Jakarta Composite was down by 4.90 points or 0.10% to 4,844.88.