Hong Kong, Shanghai Stocks Rise Ahead Of Fed Meeting

Hong Kong shares finished on a positive note on Tuesday on hopes for a fresh US stimulus package and ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting at which it could unveil fresh monetary easing measures.

The Hang Seng Index rose 0.7 percent, to 24,772.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.7 percent, to 3,227 while the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 1.4 percent, to 2,173.

Seoul jumped 1.8 percent and Mumbai put on 0.9 percent. Manila also put on more than 1 percent.

Taipei was marginally lower a day after hitting a record high, though market heavyweight chipmaker TSMC rose 10 percent for a second day, putting it among the top 10 biggest firms in the world briefly before it pared the gains.

Tokyo finished down 0.3 percent and Sydney shed 0.4 percent with Jakarta and Wellington also in the red.

Investors are hoping the US lawmakers can hammer out a new economy-boosting stimulus programme as their previous multi-trillion-dollar package begins to dry up.

"The economic data is absolutely disastrous and the profit outlook isn't so great either and yet we've seen this big rebound in the markets," Terri Spath, at Sierra Investment Management, said.

"The reality is that the Fed has proclaimed that they are going to keep the printing presses rolling, they will print money and it has created this all-you-can-eat buffet.

"The data doesn't support this and so expect volatility, expect drawdowns going forward. The bottom may be in for the year, but we do expect volatility in the future." (AFP)