By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) -- Asia stocks mostly gained Wednesday,
with Hong Kong and Australian markets hovering around multi-year
highs ahead of a policy decision from the U.S. Federal Reserve,
while selected Japanese shares benefitted from smartphone
exposure.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1% after hitting an intraday
level not seen since May 2011 early in the session, while the
Shanghai Composite Index inched up 0.2%.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.2%, Australia's S&P/ASX
200 index edged 0.2% up to extend a 21-month high and nine-session
winning streak, while South Korea's Kospi also inched up 0.2%.
Earnings outlooks gave the Japanese market an extra boost on
Wednesday, as Yahoo Japan Corp. (4689.TO) surged 15.7% after
updating its fiscal-year earnings forecast to a 10%-11% gain
year-on-year, amid growing online advertising revenue, including
for smartphones.
Telecoms also saw earnings-related buying, with Softbank Corp.
(9984.TO) improving by 1.5% after the Nikkei reported that the
wireless carrier is expected to post a 10% gain for its
April-December operating profit, helped by sales of Apple Inc.'s
(AAPL) iPhone.
Rival KDDI Corp. (KDDIF) -- which also sells the iPhone, and
which already posted a 40% gain in its October-December operating
profit late Monday -- saw its shares rise another 1.7% on
Wednesday.
Also among the wireless carriers, NTT DoCoMo Inc. (DCM) traded
up 0.4%, even as a separate Nikkei report tipped a 9% lower
nine-month operating profit for the firm.
Central Japan Railway Co. jumped 7% after reporting a 49% rise
in nine-month net profit, while rival rail operator Keisei Electric
Railway Co. rose 1.4%.
In Hong Kong, companies exposed to the global economy were
pulling higher, as ports operator China Merchants Holdings
International Co. (0144.HK) gained 2.2%, and Cosco Pacific Ltd.
(CSPKY) rose 1.7%, while footwear major Belle International
Holdings Ltd. (BELLY) advanced 1.7%.
In South Korean trading, Samsung Electronics Inc. (SSNLF)
climbed 0.9%, while fellow chip maker SK Hynix Inc. (HXSCL) rose
1.2% after reporting a swing to quarterly profit, thanks to rising
chip demand after the release of new smartphones and other
devices.
Australia saw major mineral extractors advance, with Rio Tinto
Ltd. (RIO) up 1.4%, and BHP Billiton Ltd. (RIO) higher by 1.1%.
The move in the mining sector offset losses for consumer-staples
firms, including Coles supermarket owner Wesfarmers Ltd. [(WFAFY),
which traded down 2.3% after reporting second-quarter sales
figures.
U.S. monetary policy will be front and center for investors
Wednesday, with the Federal Reserve due to wrap up a two-day policy
meeting later Wednesday. Investors were on alert for any signals as
to the duration of the Fed's bond-buying program.
With Spanish and U.S. gross domestic product figures also due
out, "data releases ahead of the Fed [Federal Open Market
Committee] rate decision today will keep markets busy, but activity
will be limited, and markets will move sideways until the Fed
delivers its outcome," Crédit Agricole strategist Mitul Kotecha
said.
U.S. stock gains Tuesday set up a mostly positive lead for Asia,
with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. (PFE) leading blue-chip gains
after reporting fourth-quarter earnings that beat estimates.
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