Asia stocks rise ahead of Federal Reserve meeting

BANGKOK (AP) ? Asian stock markets rose Tuesday, shaking off a mixed day on Wall Street and slowing growth in China as investors looked ahead to meetings of the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan.

Benchmark oil rose to around $107 per barrel while the dollar fell against the euro but rose against the yen.

The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo jumped 1 percent to 9,985.53 while South Korea's Kospi rose 1.2 percent to 2,026.94 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.2 percent to 21,391.73. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.2 percent to 4.247.60. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore, mainland China and Indonesia also rose.

Traders were awaiting a Federal Reserve policy meeting later Tuesday. Analysts don't expect Fed chief Ben Bernanke to announce any changes to the Fed's interest rate policy but are waiting to see if the Fed expresses confidence in the economic outlook.

Recent reports suggest that the U.S. economic recovery is gaining momentum. Employers added 227,000 jobs in February, more than analysts were expecting.

"They will maintain loose money and a low interest rate. And I think that will help the U.S. on the way to recovery," said Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings in Hong Kong.

The Bank of Japan is also due to conclude a two-day monetary policy meeting later Tuesday and is not expected to loosen policy further. Its benchmark interest rate is already close to zero and the bank recently expanded an asset buying program meant to support the economy.

"We share the majority view in the market that the BOJ will refrain from additional policy easing, after just taking aggressive moves at the previous meeting in February. Economic data have improved significantly compared to one month ago," analysts at DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore said in a report.

Still, the global economic outlook remains fuzzy. China's trade figures released on the weekend suggested the world's No. 2 economy continues to slow.

On Monday, Greece implemented the biggest debt writedown in history when private investors agreed to accept big losses on their bond holdings. The move should help Greece stave off default later this month, but the country is still in a severe recession, and deep-rooted problems continue to haunt other struggling European economies.

Chinese banks and insurance companies got a boost from the country's central bank chief, Zhou Xiaochuan, who indicated Monday that there was room to lower the level of reserves Chinese banks are required to hold ? a move that would free more money for lending to businesses.

"That means more profit for the banks. So as a result, the mainland banks and insurance companies are driving up the market today," Lun said.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the world's biggest bank by market value, added 1.5 percent. China Life Insurance Co., the country's biggest life insurer, shot up 2.4 percent.

Banks elsewhere rose, including South Korea's Shinhan Financial Group, up 4.4 percent, and Japan's Mizuho Financial Group, up 2.2 percent.

Japan's Asahi Kasei Corp. tumbled 4.3 percent, a day after it said it reached agreement to acquire Zoll Medical Corp., a Massachusetts-based maker of emergency medical resuscitation equipment, for about $2.2 billion.

Australian uranium miner Paladin Energy rose 3.5 percent after a three-year moratorium on mining of its Canadian deposits was lifted.

On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.3 percent, to 12,959.71. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose marginally to 1,371.09. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 0.2 percent to 2,983.66.

Benchmark oil for April delivery was up 64 cents to $106.98 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.06 to finish at $106.34 per barrel on the Nymex on Monday.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.3177 from $1.3150 late Monday in New York. The dollar slipped to 82.23 yen from 82.26 yen.

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Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asia-stocks-rise-ahead-federal-meeting-024920289.html

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