The US Federal Reserve will release its post-meeting statement at 1800 GMT on Wednesday, but there will be no news conference by Chairman Ben Bernanke. The Fed is not expected to announce any big changes in updated policy statement. However, investors are anxious for clues about when the Fed might start scaling back its monetary stimulus. The Fed is currently buying $85 billion in Treasury and mortgage bonds every month to spur growth and lending.
Turnover across the regional bourses were relatively thin as investors opted a wait-and-see mode for potentially-market moving events in later half of the week, with policy decisions from the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the US Fed. Meanwhile, the US economic growth estimate for the second quarter is due on Wednesday and employment figures for July is due on Friday. Also, results from two separate surveys on Chinese manufacturing activity in July are due out Thursday.
Among regional bourses, Australian shares gained today, with the Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.1%, on expectations of an interest-rate cut. For the month, the ASX200 jumped 249.41 points, or 5.2%.
Banking stocks closed higher for second day in Sydney after Gov. Stevens's hinted yesterday about another interest rate cut. Shares of Commonwealth Bank added 0.2% to A$74.21, Westpac Banking Corp 0.1% to A$30.89, National Australia Bank 0.1% to A$31.23, and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group 0.6% to A$29.76.
Japanese stocks retreated, with the Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.45%, giving back most of its 1.5% advance recorded in the previous session, amid caution ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision. Still, telecoms Softbank Corp. and KDDI Corp. helped cap losses after posting strong earnings results.
ANA Holdings lost 3.3% to 202 yen. The airline carrier reported a net loss of 6.6 billion yen in the quarter ended June 2013, down from a 668 million yen profit a year earlier, due to rising fuel costs and the lingering impact of the grounding of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner earlier this year. ANA kept its full-year operating target of 110 billion yen.
KDDI surged 6.9% to 5410 yen after reporting better than expected June quarter earnings. The telecom operator announced an operating-profit growth of 89.6%.
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Hitachi added 2.8% to 658 yen after the company reported 54% rise in first-quarter net profit to 10.79 billion yen.
In China, Mainland Chinese stocks rose, with the Shanghai Composite climbed 0.19%, as the property stocks rallied on hopes the government will pursue policies aimed at stable economic growth after the powerful politburo of China's communist party said late Tuesday it would act to maintain steady growth in the second half of 2013.
China will meet its economic growth target of 7.5 per cent this year as authorities will continue to implement prudent monetary policy and keep market liquidity relatively ample, the chief of the top economic planning agency said today. Xu Shaoshi, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, also said in a live webcast that the government will unveil an urbanization plan in the second half of 2013 and will push ahead with housing registration and land reforms. Xu's comments are the latest from top officials to affirm China's plans to transform its economy and reassure markets it is on track to meet its goals. Yesterday the politburo, China's top decision making body, vowed to keep growth steady while pressing on with reforms.
Property developers and cement makers advanced in Shanghai as the government indicated that it will promote the steady development of the housing market without mentioning new restrictions on the sector. China Vanke Co added 2.8% to 9.52 yuan and Poly Real Estate jumped 3.2% to 10.19 yuan. Gemdale Corp increased 3.7% to 6.78 yuan. Anhui Conch Cement jumped 1.5% to 14.46 yuan.
Hong Kong's share market declined in quiet trade, as investors were awaiting for the FOMC meeting statement. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.32% to finish at 21,883.66.
Fertilizer shares went lower in Hong Kong as price concerns flare following word Russian potash producer Uralkali axed a partnership with Belarus that had effectively set prices for the key agricultural ingredient. China BlueChemical declined 5.5% to HK$3.58 and Sinofert Holding sank 7.6% to HK$1.21.
Indian stock market was trading higher around late afternoon, aided by tracking recovery in European stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex was up 20.37 points or 0.11%, up close to 240 points from the day's low and off about 5 points from the day's high
Among Indian heavyweights, IT major Wipro surged, with the stock extending gains for the third straight day after the company issued upbeat revenue guidance for Q2 September 2013 at the time of announcing Q1 June 2013 results on 26 July 2013. Interest rate sensitive realty stocks dropped as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its key lending rate viz. the repo rate and cash reserve ratio unchanged after a monetary policy review on Tuesday, 31 July 2013, as the central bank focused on managing the currency volatility rather than pushing for growth. DLF hit 52-week low. Shares of state-run oil exploration major ONGC reversed intraday losses. Hindalco Industries rose on bargain hunting after recent steep losses.
Elsewhere, Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.72%. South Korea's Kospi Index (KOSPI) lost 0.16%, while Taiwan's Taiex Index shed 0.68%. New Zealand's NZX50 Index dropped 0.28%. Malaysia's KLSE Composite fell 1.25%. Indonesia's JKSE Composite edged up 0.04%.
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