Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Tuesday despite investors awaiting the outcome of the Federal Reserve's meeting and a batch of economic and political events later this week. Investors are also awaiting industrial output and retail sales data from China today. The Japanese market declined from 15-month highs in the previous session, tracking the lackluster cues overnight from Wall Street and as the yen fluctuated. Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong, Shanghai, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are modestly higher. Bucking the trend, Singapore is edging lower.
Hang Seng gained 12.72 points or 0.05% to 23,842.39, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.38 points or 0.02% to 1,722.30, KOSPI Index added 12.63 points or 0.60% to 2,130.22, Shanghai Composite spurt 3.54 points or 0.11% to 3,240.57, Taiwan Weighted rose 58.65 points or 0.60% to 9,755.99, and Jakarta Composite was up by 38.60 points or 0.71% to 5,447.98.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 declined 22.81 points or 0.12% to 19,610.94, and Straits Times was down by 3.69 points or 0.12% to 3,143.46.