Asian equity markets ended mostly in green on Wednesday as higher commodity prices and upbeat earnings news from the US helped keep investors’ sentiments buoyant ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision due later in the day. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but investors will be paying close attention to the accompanying statement for clues regarding future rate hikes. Japanese shares ended higher as the dollar extended an overnight rally against the yen and long-dated US Treasury yields jumped after US Senate Republicans narrowly agreed to open debate on healthcare reform. Hong Kong shares ended higher as gains by energy and financial shares overcame sluggishness in other sectors hit by profit-taking after the Hang Seng index temporarily breached the 27,000 mark in early trade. Meanwhile, Chinese shares ended little changed on concerns over further regulatory tightening after the China Securities Regulatory Commission said it would maintain ‘normalization’ of initial public offerings.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,247.68 | 3.99 | 0.12 |
Hang Seng | 26,941.02 | 88.97 | 0.33 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,800.21 | -13.33 | -0.23 |
KLSE Composite | 1,766.00 | 2.66 | 0.15 |
Nikkei 225 | 20,050.16 | 94.96 | 0.48 |
Straits Times | 3,336.72 | 8.89 | 0.27 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,434.51 | -5.39 | -0.22 |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,419.11 | -44.04 | -0.42 |