Asian Stocks unsettled ahead of today’s rate move by the Fed (MarketWatch) (30-04-2008)

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Asian markets were unsettled Wednesday as investors stood on the sidelines to wait for the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates.

Stocks in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia meandered between positive and negative territories, while Chinese stocks took flight in Shanghai after strong quarterly results from Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Average rose 0.4% to 13,950.16 and the broader Topix index advanced 0.7% to 1,371.80, reversing their early losses.

Financials ended mixed with Mitsubishi UFJ unchanged, Sumitomo up by 0.54% and Mizuho Financials gaining by 2.08%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200, which fell sharply earlier in the day, recouped most of its losses, and was recently down 0.2% at 5,596.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was little changed at 25,904.67 and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slipped 0.1% to 14,288.44. Both indexes rose earlier in the day, but couldn't hold on to the gains.

Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.6% to 1,821.91 and New Zealand's NZX 50 index added 0.5% to 3,624.78, while Taiwan's Weighted index gained 0.7% to 8,952.49.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar was quoted at 104.04 yen, compared with 104 yen in New York late Tuesday.

Source MarketWatch