Asian markets mixed as US Fed prepares for meeting

A woman walks by an electronic stock indicator of a securities firm in Tokyo, Monday, June 17, 2013. Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday, with traders sitting on the sidelines as they await the US Federal Reserve’s plans for its stimulus program. AP PHOTO/SHIZUO KAMBAYASHI

HONG KONG—Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday, with traders sitting on the sidelines as they await the US Federal Reserve’s plans for its stimulus program.

The dollar enjoyed another positive day, with Wall Street also providing a strong lead thanks to upbeat US housing data.

Tokyo stocks dropped 0.20 percent, or 25.84 points, to 13,007.28, after jumping 2.73 percent the day before.

Sydney fell 0.24 percent, or 11.5 points, to 4,814.4. But Seoul rose 0.93 percent, or 17.52 points, to 1,900.62.

Hong Kong finished flat, edging down 0.02 points to 21225.88 while Shanghai was up 0.14 percent, or 3.07 points, at 2,159.29.

Markets have been in turmoil for weeks as investors speculate on whether the Federal Reserve will continue with its $85-billion-a-month quantitative easing program, which has helped fuel a global stocks rally.

The Fed is expected to announce Wednesday after a two-day meeting when or if it intends to begin reeling in the huge bond-buying scheme as the economy shows signs of picking up.

A mixed bag of US data recently has pointed to an uncertain recovery with many analysts predicting the Fed would hold off cutting back on the purchases for the time being.

There were, however, some signs of strength in the world’s biggest economy on Monday with a confidence index of national home builders hitting a seven-year high as they begin to see demand for new homes picking up pace.

The data provided a lift to shares on Wall Street. The Dow finished up 0.73 percent, the S&P 500 advanced 0.76 percent and the Nasdaq jumped 0.83 percent.

The dollar edged up against the yen after see-sawing last week.

The US unit was trading at 95.15 yen in afternoon trade, against 94.67 yen in New York late Monday. However, it is still down around nine percent from its recent peak in late May.

The euro bought 12701 yen and $1.3350 compared with 126.52 yen and $1.3363.

Oil prices eased. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, fell 17 cents to $97.60 a barrel in the late afternoon and Brent North Sea crude for August delivery lost two cents to $105.56 45.

Gold was at $1,377.10 at 1030 GMT from $1,386.40 late Monday.

In other markets:

— Kuala Lumpur rose 0.11 percent, or 1.88 points, to 1,774.05.

Tenaga Nasional gained 0.2 percent to 8.31 ringgit, while SapuraKencana Petroleum added 2.4 percent to 4.24. Axiata Group lost 0.2 percent to 6.64 ringgit.

— Bangkok lost 2.97 percent, or 43.62 points, to 1,427.42.

Telecoms company True Corporation shed 5.59 percent to 7.60 baht, while coal producer Banpu fell 4.09 percent to 258 baht.

— Jakarta ended up 1.38 percent, or 65.95 points, at 4,840.45.

State miner Aneka Tambang rose 0.88 percent to 1,150 rupiah and palm oil firm Astra Agro Lestari jumped 2.80 percent to 20,200 rupiah.

— Singapore was up 1.45 percent, or 46.11 points, to 3,229.55.

Singapore Airlines gained 1.96 percent to Sg$10.40 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation was up 1.78 percent at Sg$10.31.

— Taiwan rose 0.23 percent, or 18.13 points, to 8,011.02.

Chunghwa Telecom was up 0.83 percent at Tw$96.0 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was 0.47 percent higher at Tw$106.5.

— Manila closed 2.83 percent higher, gaining 179.36 points to close at 6,518.77.

Alliance Global Group rose 3.98 percent to 23.50 pesos while SM Prime Holdings gained 3.04 percent to 16.96 pesos.

— Wellington rose 0.33 percent, or 14.47 points, to 4462.10.

Ryman Healthcare added 2.9 percent to NZ$6.30 while Telecom was up 1.3 percent at NZ$2.28.

— Mumbai fell 0.53 percent, or 102.59 points, to 19,223.28.

Drug firm Ranbaxy Laboratories eased 3.56 percent to 352.40 rupees while private Essar Oil was down 3.15 percent to 67.65 rupees.