Asia stocks set to rise ahead of Fed, ECB

Asia stocks set to rise ahead of Fed, ECB
Asian stocks are expected to gain on Wednesday, recovering from the previous day's losses, but trade may be cautious ahead of monetary policy decisions in the U.S. and Europe.

Japanese shares are set to rebound after losing 0.6 percent in the previous session. Nikkei futures traded in Osaka rose 0.2 percent to 20,270 while futures in Chicago traded at 20,335 - both higher than the benchmark index's previous close of 20,257.

Australia's S&P ASX 200 is also headed higher after stock futures jumped nearly 1 percent to 5,573, a 38 point increase from where the benchmark ended on Tuesday.
A positive lead from Wall Street overnight will likely underpin gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained more than 100 points, recovering from two days of declines, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq added half a percent each.

Global investors will be awaiting the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee's two-day meeting as well as the European Central Bank's policy review later in the day.

The Fed isn't expected to take any action on interest rates, with consensus for a rate hike pushed to September. The ECB meanwhile, could announce a change to Emergency Liquidity Assistance to Greece. Talks between the bankrupt country and its international creditors remains stuck in deadlock as Athens faces a $1.8 billion repayment to the International Monetary Fund by the end of June.

Attention will also fall on Hong Kong, where the Legislative Council will vote on a controversial China-backed electoral reform package. The proposal allow residents the right to vote for chief executive in 2017, but maintains that candidates would be chosen by Beijing.

Investors will be watching to see if Chinese stocks extend their selloff when the market opens for trade at 9.30am local time. The benchmark Shanghai Composite skidded over 3 percent on Tuesday, its biggest fall in nearly three weeks, amid a new wave of initial public offerings and curbs on margin financing.

Japanese trade data for May is due before the Tokyo market open. Exports are forecast to rise 3.5 percent on year, slower than April's 8 percent increase, while imports could drop an annual 7.5 percent, according to a Reuters poll.