Trading day in one post 16.03.2016

Asia markets were mixed Wednesday, following a weaker finish on Wall Street overnight as traders await the U.S. Federal Reserve decision due later.

The U.S. central bank is widely expected to stand pat on policy at its meeting today, but analysts will be closely watching the wording of the Federal Open Market Committee's statement for cues on the direction ahead. That uncertainty is helping to keep markets constrained, with many traders taking to the sidelines.

"No one appears to be making bets in front of the Fed, with just a little profit-taking," Mark Matthews, head of research for Asia at Julius Baer, said in a note Wednesday. "For a knee-jerk up, the Fed has to say 'no rate rises for a very long time.' On the other hand, with any inkling of more tightening, the best result is flat. That leaves the risk-reward relatively poor in the short-term."

The Australian S&P/ASX 200 closed up 0.15 percent, or 7.58 points at 5,119 points. The materials subindex was down 0.72 percent. but losses were offset by gains of 0.44 percent in the energy subindex and 0.54 percent increase in the heavily weighted financial subindex.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 0.74 percent, extending Tuesday's 0.68 percent fall. Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi edged up 0.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.34 percent.

Chinese markets were also mixed, with the Shanghai composite up 0.13 percent and the Shenzhen composite down 1.37 percent.
Japanese exporters were mostly lower, with Toyota shares down 0.67 percent, Honda 2.13 percent lower and Nissan slipping 1.37 percent.
Shares of electronics giant Sharp tumbled 9.87 percent after a report said that Taiwan-based Foxconn may delay its Sharp takeover deal to get further clarity on its financial performance, reported Reuters.

In late February, Reuters had reported that Sharp had contingent liabilities of around 300 billion yen ($2.66 billion) which had not been disclosed to Foxconn.

In the currency market, the Japanese yen held steady at the 113 handle against the dollar, after yesterday's Bank of Japan decision to keep interest rates on hold. The dollar/yen pair traded up at 113.38 as of 1:15 p.m. HK/SIN time.
On the mainland, the Chinese yuan weakened against the dollar, with the dollar/yuan pair trading up 0.14 percent at 6.5202 at 1:15 p.m. HK/SIN time. Before the market opened, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the yuan mid-point rate higher at 6.5172, compared with Tuesday's fix at 6.5079.
Down Under, the Australian dollar/U.S. dollar pair was flat at 0.7454 as of 1:15 p.m. HK/SIN time.

Resource producers were down, with shares of Rio Tinto lower by 0.65 percent, Fortescue falling 4.33 percent and BHP Billiton shedding 1.46 percent.