Asia Shares Tread Water Ahead of BOJ, Fed

Asian share-trading stayed tentative Tuesday as investors awaited policy decisions from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan.

Markets reflected the uncertain balance between risks and rewards heading into this week's central bank meetings, said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.4% as bank stocks bounced back from recent losses due to speculation that the BOJ would cut its interest rate on excess reserves further into negative territory. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. was up 0.9%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. was up 0.8%, and Resona Holdings Inc. was up 0.8%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1%. A technical problem delayed the opening of Australia's main equities market Monday by about 90 minutes. The ASX said it will provide a detailed incident report on the matter later this week. BHP Billiton Ltd. was up 1.8% with Rio Tinto Ltd. higher by 1%.

Australia's central bank indicated Tuesday it would keep interest rates on hold, possibly until next year, to support growth. Interest rate-sensitive sectors of the economy, such as housing construction, are being helped by record low rates, while the economy is growing strongly, the Reserve Bank of Australia said in the minutes of its Sept. 6 board meeting released Tuesday.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and the Shanghai Composite were both down about 0.1%. South Korea's Kospi was unchanged.

Trading volumes were largely expected to stay low as traders awaited the BOJ's policy decision Wednesday, analysts said. The U.S. Fed announces its decision in the early hours Thursday, Asia time.

"It's about risk management," said Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG, noting that the emphasis was on protecting capital and hedging exposure.

Brent crude traded 0.3% lower in early Asia trade after a survey by S&P Global Platts said U.S. crude inventories likely saw a buildup of 2.8 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 16, caused by a decline in refinery utilization.

Gold was almost unchanged, with nickel futures on the London Metal Exchange higher by 2.8% and zinc contracts up 0.6%.

Kosaku Narioka, Robb M. Stewart, James Glynn and Jenny Hsu contributed to this article.

Write to Kenan Machado at [e-mail] and Willa Plank at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 19, 2016 23:15 ET (03:15 GMT)

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