Aerial view of skyscrapers standing at the Lujiazui Financial District at sunrise on June 8, 2022 in Shanghai, China.
Zhang Zhuoming | VCG | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets edged higher Tuesday, with Japan stocks leading gains for a second straight session ahead of the final U.S. Federal Reserve meeting of the year.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 traded 0.61% higher, after closing up 1.6% in the previous session. The broader Topix rose 0.28%.
Producer prices in Japan have risen at a faster-than-expected pace, notching a 0.3% gain year-on-year compared with the 0.1% rise estimated by economists polled by Reuters.
The Fed’s two-day meeting kicks off Tuesday, and the U.S. central bank is expected to maintain the Federal Funds rate steady in the 5.25%-5.5% range.
The Japanese yen showed some strength against the dollar, trading about 0.1% higher at 146.04 as investors will be keenly watching the impact of the Fed’s decision on the dollar/yen pair.
Market players will also assess the U.S. November inflation figures out late Tuesday, which are expected to come in at 3.1%, according to a Reuters poll. This figure is slightly lower than the 3.2% seen in October.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4%, and was on pace for its highest level since September.
South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.28%, while the smaller Kosdaq index slipped marginally below the flatline.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rebounded off a one-year low to gain 0.48%, but the mainland Chinese CSI 300 index fell 0.28%
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes advanced, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average recording its third straight day of gains.
The Dow advanced 0.43% to close at its highest since January 2022, while the S&P500 rose 0.39% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.20%.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Pia Singh contributed to this report