Asian shares mostly up ahead of Bernanke testimony

HONG KONG: Asian markets mostly rose Wednesday as investors focus on what US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke has to say about the future of the bank's stimulus scheme during a congressional hearing later in the day.

Profit-taking capped gains, however, following two days of broad gains, while Japan's Nikkei dipped on a stronger yen after the dollar suffered a sell-off in New York.

Tokyo slipped 0.78 percent, but Shanghai rose 0.18 percent and Seoul added 0.55 percent while Sydney edged up a tad and Hong Kong was up 0.54 percent.

Bernanke will give his semi-annual testimony over two days in Washington from Wednesday, and investors will be looking for hints about when the Fed's view of the US economy and its plans on when to wind down its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying scheme.

Also in the sights is a meeting of G20 finance ministers on Thursday and Friday in Moscow, where officials are expected to discuss the Fed's stimulus, while Japan will hold upper house elections at the weekend.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party is tipped to win the majority of the 121 seats up for grabs, giving him control of both chambers and the ability to push on with his aggressive monetary policy drive.

Wall Street provided a negative lead as profit-taking set in after the Dow and S&P 500 broke to new record highs for three consecutive sessions.

The Dow fell 0.21 percent and the S&P 500 gave up 0.37 percent. The Nasdaq shed 0.25 percent.

On forex markets the dollar sank in New York as traders tentatively await Bernanke's comments, ending Tuesday at 99.04 yen.

But the unit made a comeback in Asia on Wednesday, climbing to 99.45 yen in the morning, although it is still down from the high 99-yen range seen in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The euro bought $1.3145 and 130.68 yen against $1.3164 and 130.43 yen.

Oil prices eased slightly, with New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August, down 45 cents to $105.55 a barrel, while Brent North Sea crude for September shed 26 cents to $107.88.

Gold fetched $1,289.90 per ounce at 0220 GMT, compared with $1,291.21 late Tuesday. (AFP)