Chinese stocks fall again, other Asian markets rise

Chinese stocks sank again today but other Asian markets rose following Wall Street's gain as investors looked ahead to the US Federal Reserve's latest statement on interest rates and the economic outlook.
China's Shanghai Composite Index shed 2.4 per cent to 2,682.65, adding to yesterday's 6.4 per cent loss. The Chinese benchmark has now given up almost all the gains made since December 2014.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 2.6 per cent to 17,142.52 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.8 per cent at 19,015.18. South Korea's Kospi gained 1.4 per cent to 1,897.87 and India's Sensex advanced 0.4 percent to 24,520.52.

Markets in Taiwan and Southeast Asia also gained. Australia's S&P/ ASX 200 lost 1.2 percent to 4,946.40 and New Zealand also declined.
US stocks jumped as the price of oil made another abrupt reversal and rose 4 percent following a decline the previous day. Chevron and Exxon Mobil made major gains. Strong fourth-quarter results from beleaguered wireless provider Sprint gave telecom stocks a boost.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 282.01 points, or 1.8 percent, to 16,167.23. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 26.55 points, or 1.4 percent, to 1,903.63. The Nasdaq composite index added 49.18 points, or 1.1 percent, to 4,567.67.

Investors were watching Wednesday's Fed statement for signs of the pace of possible future rate hikes. The US central bank raised rates last month for the first time since the 2008 global crisis, citing improved inflation and other data. But uncertainty over the strength of the dollar, low oil prices and China's outlook have prompted warnings against raising rates too fast.

Fed officials will probably want to acknowledge the extra uncertainty raised by recent financial and international developments, said Jim O'Sullivan of High Frequency Economics in a report.
"But they will likely also want to avoid encouraging the perception that a relatively modest bout of risk aversion in markets or mixed signals from the data will promptly change their outlook in a major way."

The dollar weakened to 118.10 yen from yesterday's 118.31 yen. The euro inched up to USD 1.0868 from USD 1.0864.