Asian markets settled mostly higher on Wednesday ahead of US Fed Chair's congressional testimony later in the day for clues to the outlook for monetary policy. Japanese shares gained after Japanese central bank’s April meeting minutes showed that most board members had no intention of altering the BoJ’s ultra-loose policy in the near-term. However, Chinese shares declined on concerns over a lack of additional stimulus measures from Beijing.
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,197.90 | -42.46 | -1.33 |
| Hang Seng | 19,218.35 | -388.73 | -2.02 |
| Jakarta Composite | 6,702.62 | 42.16 | 0.63 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,393.45 | 5.12 | 0.37 |
| Nikkei 225 | 33,575.14 | 186.23 | 0.55 |
| Straits Times | 3,223.66 | 3.43 | 0.11 |
| KOSPI Composite | 2,582.63 | -22.28 | -0.86 |
| Taiwan Weighted | 17,202.40 | 17.49 | 0.10 |
