Stocks in Japan slipped Wednesday ahead of the conclusion of a
U.S. Federal Reserve meeting later in the day, while shares in
China rebounded from a more than 5% drop earlier in the week.
Markets in Asia have been hit this week following the collapse
of Greece's bailout talks, but losses were limited Wednesday after
U.S. stocks rose overnight as the Fed's meeting kicked off.
"Traders will continue to seek an indication of when the central
bank [Fed] could start raising interest rates," said Nicholas Teo,
analyst at CMC Markets. "At the start of the year, many had thought
this could be the liftoff meeting but a soft first quarter pushed
the timetable back and no increase is expected this time."
Daiwa Securities FX strategist Yukio Ishizuki added that the
result of the Fed meeting is "the main event" for investors.
The Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.4%, while Korea's Kospi and
Taiwan's Taiex were both down 0.1%. The Shanghai Composite Index
was up 0.4%, recovering from losses of 5.4% Monday and Tuesday.
Investors in China are bracing for more volatility. The Shanghai
market has gained more than 50% this year, and investors are
increasingly protecting themselves against a selloff.
"The correction in the market over the last two days isn't too
surprising if the massive amount of capital locked up for IPOs and
the valuations in some sectors are taken into account," said Gerry
Alfonso, director of trading at Shenwan Hongyuan Securities. "It is
likely that we will experience significant volatility today."
The Japanese yen was at 123.42 against the U.S. dollar,
weakening slightly from 123.36 late Tuesday in New York.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 1% as shares of Woolworths
Ltd. rose 1.9% after the retailer lowered its profit outlook and
said it would likely cut around 1,200 jobs. Its chief executive,
Grant O'Brien, is also leaving.
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group gained 1.8% after The
Wall Street Journal reported that the company was seeking buyers
for some of its portfolio of loans to commodity trading house Noble
Group Ltd.
Bradford Frischkorn contributed to this article.
Write to Chao Deng at Chao.Deng@wsj.com
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