Asia-Pacific Stocks Mixed; Fed’s Meeting in Focus

On Monday, Asia-Pacific stocks grappled for direction as investors braced for the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting this week.

Markets highly expected the US central bank to confirm that it will soon start draining its massive lake of liquidity.

Accordingly, the accommodative policy has been a critical prop to stock prices in recent years.

In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.11% or 29.92 points to $27,492.34 per share after retracing some of its earlier losses.

At the bottom of the index, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding sharply plummeted 10.94% or 0.38 points to $3.07 per share.

Consequently, Nippon Express shed 4.34% or 2.63 points to $57.86 per share.

Likewise, the broader TOPIX index plummeted 0.09% or 1.64 points to $1,925.54 per share.

Gunosy Inc., principally engaged in information pushing, lost 8.41% or 0.61 points to $6.51 per share.

Similarly, software company Atled Corp. slashed 6.52% or 1.24 points to $17.75 per share.

Then, South Korea’s KOSPI declined 1.54% or 43.58 points to $2,790.71 per share. It posted a more extensive loss than its peers in the Asia-Pacific Stocks.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lowered 0.50% or 35.60 points to $7,140.20 per share.

Moreover, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 fell 1.27% or 156.94 points to $12,191.06 per share.

Evergrande Hiked as Asia-Pacific Stocks Mixed

Furthermore, Hong-kong listed shares of China Evergrande Group surged 7.26% or 0.02 points to $0.25 per share.

The upturn of the highly indebted developer came a day after it appointed an official from a state asset manager to its board.

Meanwhile, the Hang Seng index dropped 0.99% or 247.13 points to $24,718.42 per share.

Conversely, mainland Chinese shares placed gains in the Asia-Pacific stocks due to further policy easing in the world’s second-largest economy.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite increased 0.15% or 5.35 points to $3,527.92 per share.

At the same time, the Shenzhen Component index added 0.55% or 76.70 points to $14,106.24 per share.

Still, the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan skidded 0.76% or 4.76 points to $625.29 per share.

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