TOKYO: Asian stocks were mixed and the dollar marked time on Wednesday, with markets waiting for the US Federal Reserve’s policy statement due later in the session for clues to when the Fed will hike interest rates.
Indonesian, Singaporean and Japanese shares fell 0.1 per cent, while Australian stocks dropped 0.5 per cent.
But Chinese shares, sitting atop multi-year highs reached on hopes of more monetary stimulus, added to gains. The Shanghai Composite Index reached its highest since May 2008, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and South Korea’s Kospi also gained.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4 per cent. “We expect to see a tug-of-war between the bulls and the bears,” said Hue Frame, senior adviser at Atlantic Pacific Securities in Sydney.
