Asian Shares Rise As Fed Rate Cut Looms

Asian stocks rose on Tuesday as investors looked ahead to a key Federal Reserve meeting and more talks on the U.S.-China trade dispute.

Market participants expect the Fed to cut the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 bps at the end of a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.

Japanese shares advanced as the Bank of Japan kept its ultra-low interest rates unchanged, as widely expected, and said it would not hesitate to make adjustments if necessary.

The Nikkei average gained 92.51 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 21,709.31 while the broader Topix index ended 0.45 percent higher at 1,575.58.

Technology stocks jumped on expectations the inventory adjustment in DRAM and flash memories is coming to an end. Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings both jumped over 3 percent.

Robot maker Fanuc Corp climbed 3.1 percent after its quarterly results beat analyst expectations. Kawasaki Heavy Industries slumped 5.7 percent on weak earnings.

In economic releases, Japan's industrial production fell a seasonally adjusted 3.6 percent sequentially in June, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary reading. That missed forecasts for a decline of 1.8 percent following the 2.0 percent gain in May.

The unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.3 percent in the month. That was beneath expectations for 2.4 percent, which would have been unchanged from the May reading.

Chinese stocks rose as a two-day policy meeting of the Federal Reserve gets underway later today. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index closed up 11.33 points or 0.39 percent at 2,952.34 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended up 0.14 percent at 28,146.50.

Australian markets hit a record high in intraday trade as surging iron ore prices boosted mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index hit a record high of 6,875.50 earlier in the session before ending the day up 19.30 points or 0.28 percent at 6,845.10. The broader All Ordinaries index ended up 16.90 points or 0.24 percent at 6,928.30.

Mining giant Rio Tinto edged up 0.2 percent ahead of its first-half results due on Thursday. BHP advanced 0.6 percent and Fortescue Metals Group gained 0.9 percent.

Gold miner Northern Star Resources added 1.6 percent after it reported record quarterly sales. Newcrest jumped 3.1 percent and Evolution rose 0.6 percent.

Banks rose on hopes the Fed would signal the start of a policy easing cycle, a development that would help lower funding costs for domestic lenders. Westpac rallied 1 percent while the other three big banks eked out modest gains.

Healthcare stocks such as CSL and Cochlear rose half a percent. Telco TPG Telecom climbed 2.2 percent and Telstra added 1.3 percent.

On the data front, Australia's building approvals fell 1.2 percent month-on-month in June, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.2 percent, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed.

Seoul stocks bounced back after steep losses in the previous session amid a worsening diplomatic and economic spat with Japan. The Kospi average rose 9.20 points or 0.45 percent to 2,038.68 after falling as much as 1.8 percent to high a two-month low the previous day.

New Zealand shares eked out modest gains on optimism over central bank easing signals. The benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index hit a record high of 10,903.56 before giving up some gains to end the session up 27.59 points or 0.25 percent at 10,878.95.

The total number of building consents issued in New Zealand was down a seasonally adjusted 3.9 percent on month in June, Statistics New Zealand said in a report today - standing at 2,881. That follows the upwardly revised 14.0 percent jump in May (originally 13.2 percent).

Overnight, U.S. stocks ended mixed as investors awaited Apple's earnings and the outcome of this week's Fed policy meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.1 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 slid 0.2 percent.