Asian shares rally ahead of Fed policy decision

HONG KONG: Asian markets rose on Wednesday and the dollar held up against the yen after another record finish on Wall Street, but trade was cautious ahead of a Federal Reserve policy decision.

With few trading cues to drive business, investors took a recent batch of weak US data as enough evidence to suggest the central bank will keep its stimulus programme in place until the new year.

Tokyo rose 1.22 percent by the break, Hong Kong added 0.53 percent, Sydney was 0.37 percent higher, Seoul was flat and Shanghai gained 0.12 percent.

The rise in Japanese stocks also came after numbers showing factory output in the country saw a healthy rise in September from August, adding to evidence of a pick-up in the world's number-two economy.

Markets expect the Fed -- wrapping up a two-day meeting on Wednesday -- to keep its $85 billion a month stimulus in place but will be poring over its announcement for clues as to when it will start winding down.

The bank had been expected to begin tapering by the end of this year but a weak set of data -- including on jobs growth -- and this month's two-week government shutdown has made that highly unlikely.