Asian Shares Mixed Ahead of Fed Policy Meeting

By Daniel Inman 

Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday, as a weaker yen pushed Japan higher, while Australia and South Korea fell in early trade.

The region was little moved ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy statement, which will come out later today. The U.S. central bank is expected to announce another $10 billion reduction in its bond-buying program to $35 billion a month.

The Nikkei rose for the second consecutive day, last up 0.3%, amid yen weakness. The dollar rose 0.3% overnight to cross the Yen102 mark, and was steady during Asian trade at Yen102.13.

In Australia, the S&P ASX 200 lost 0.1% as resource companies continued to stoke investor concern.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. fell 3.7% in Sydney after the oil company restarted trading following Royal Dutch Shell PLC's sale of a 9.5% stake in the firm to institutional investors. That move weighed on the broader market on Tuesday, as investors sold shares in other companies to take part in the deal.

Also in Sydney, energy-minerals firm Aquila Resources Ltd. surged 7% after the company recommended to shareholders that it accept a takeover deal from China's Baosteel Group Corp. and Aurizon Holdings Ltd.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea's Kospi was down 0.4%.

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