Australian markets gained early in the session on Wednesday, with markets focused on the Federal Reserve after it kicked off its March meeting.
U.S. stocks rose overnight, with most in the market expecting an interest rate hike at the end of the Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day meeting.
The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 0.47 percent, or 116.36 points, to close at 24,727.27, the S&P 500 tacked on 0.15 percent to finish at 2,716.94 and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.27 percent to end at 7,364.30.
The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates for the first time this year on Wednesday U.S. time. The probability of a 25 basis point rate hike in March stood at 94.4 percent, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool on Wednesday morning.
Markets are also watching the meeting for clues about whether the central bank potentially intends to raise rates more than three times this year.
Gains stateside in the previous session came after U.S. stocks pulled back at the beginning of the week as a fall in Facebook shares dragged on the tech sector. Regulators are looking into whether the social media giant potentially violated a consent decree following reports that data of 50 million Facebook users was accessed by Cambridge Analytica.
Back in Asia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.18 percent in early morning trade.
Markets in Japan will be closed on Wednesday for the vernal equinox.
Several large-cap Hong Kong-listed corporates are due to report earnings on Wednesday, with the most notable being internet giant Tencent. Geely Auto is also expected to announce results later in the day.
Meanwhile, in corporate news, dairy company Fonterra said Wednesday that its CEO, Theo Spierings, would leave the role later in the year. The New Zealand-listed company, which is the largest dairy exporter in the world, announced earlier in the day that it had recorded a net loss in the six months ending Jan. 31.
In currencies, the dollar broadly strengthened overnight as markets shifted their attentions to the Fed. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six rivals, rose 0.72 percent to trade at 90.415 by 6:39 a.m. HK/SIN. The index touched a three-week high earlier in the session.
The U.S. currency also rose to trade at 106.52 against the yen in the overnight session. Meanwhile, the Australian dollar slipped below the $0.77 handle to trade at $0.7679.
The economic calendar for Asia is fairly light for Wednesday (all times in HK/SIN):
- 12:00 p.m.: Malaysia inflation
- 12:00 p.m.: Thailand trade data
