Asian stocks higher ahead of Fed decision

Bangkok: Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday as the Federal Reserve and other central banks prepared for the year's final barrage of interest rate hikes. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 0.3 per cent to 27,925.38 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.6 per cent to 19,572.66. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.2 per cent higher to 7,195.00. In Seoul, the Kospi edged 0.1 per cent lower to 2,370.55. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.2 per cent to 3,172.36.

Shares fell in India and Taiwan but rose in Singapore and Bangkok. Markets have struggled this year thanks to high inflation and the interest rate hikes engineered to combat it. Higher rates slow business activity by design but also risk causing a recession if they go too high, all while dragging down prices of investments.

On Wall Street on Monday, the S&P 500 rallied 1.4 per cent to 3,990.56. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.6 per cent to 34,005.04. The Nasdaq climbed 1.3 per cent to 11,143.74. The Russell 2000 gained 1.2 per cent to 1,818.61. The indexes were coming off their first weekly loss in three weeks. Technology stocks accounted for a big share of the market's gains. Microsoft rose 2.9 per cent and was the biggest single force lifting the S&P 500.