Asian Shares Mixed In Thin Holiday Trade

Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday as investors braced for the Federal Reserve’s most anticipated meeting in years.

A two-day policy meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve gets underway later today, with markets seeing a nearly 70 percent probability of a bigger 50 bps rate cut to the 4.7-5 percent range on Wednesday.

Gold ticked higher in Asian trading even as the dollar selloff paused ahead of the U.S. retail sales data for August due later in the day.

Oil extended overnight gains due to disruptions in U.S. production caused by Hurricane Francine and expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut.

Markets in mainland China and South Korea were closed for public holidays.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rallied 1.37 percent to close at 17,660.02 as hopes of fiscal stimulus measures to bolster the Chinese economy lifted property developers and technology stocks.

Japanese markets fell sharply as export-related stocks came under selling pressure due to a stronger yen.

The Nikkei average dropped 1.03 percent to 36,203.22 while the broader Topix index settled 0.60 percent lower at 2,555.76.

Sony Corp, Toyota and Nissan all fell around 2 percent after the dollar briefly weakened to the lower 140-yen range.

Tech investor Softbank Group tumbled 3.1 percent, chip-related Advantest plummeted 5.6 percent and Tokyo Electron gave up 5.2 percent.

Australian markets booked a fourth consecutive session of gains to reach a new high, led by technology, real estate and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.24 percent to 8,140.90 while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 0.24 percent to close at 8,361.20.

Xero rallied 2.6 percent after announcing its acquisition of Syft Analytics for US$70m.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index dipped 0.26 percent to 12,671.95.

U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as tech stocks dragged and the dollar fell ahead of a slew of central bank meetings due later in the week.

In economic news, a survey showed manufacturing activity expanded in the New York region for the first time in almost a year.

The Dow rose 0.6 percent to a record high close and the S&P 500 inched up 0.1 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped half a percent.

European stocks ended mostly lower on Monday to snap a three-day winning streak amid signs that an economic slowdown in China is deepening.

The pan European STOXX 600 slipped 0.2 percent. The German DAX shed 0.4 percent and France’s CAC 40 eased 0.2 percent while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended flat with a positive bias.

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