Investing.com - Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday, but Tokyo and Sydney showed strength heading into an expected rate hike by the Federal Reserve for the first time in nearly a decade.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.80%, while the Shanghai Composite eased 0.29%. The Nikkei 225 rose 1/75%.
Market participants awaited the Federal Reserve's highly-anticipated policy decision due on Wednesday. Most investors expect the Fed to raise interest rates for the first time since June 2006.
Earlier in Australia, the MI leading index fell 0.2% month-on-month, compared to a 0.1% gain the previous months.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Financials and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.90%, while the S&P 500 index gained 1.06%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.87%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Exxon Mobil Corporation (N:N:XOM), which rose 4.47% or 3.40 points to trade at 79.43 at the close. Meanwhile, Chevron Corporation (N:N:CVX) added 3.84% or 3.43 points to end at 92.76 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (N:N:GS) was up 3.18% or 5.61 points to 182.01 in late trade.
The release of positive U.S. economic reports and as markets awaited the Federal Reserve's highly-anticipated policy decision on Wednesday.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported that consumer prices were unchanged from a month earlier, meeting expectations and following a gain of 0.2% in October.
Year-over-year, consumer prices were 0.5% higher from the same month a year earlier, compared to expectations for a 0.4% increase and after rising 0.2% in October.
Core CPI, which excludes food and energy costs, increased by 0.2%, meeting expectations.
Separately, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that its general business conditions index improved to -4.6 this month from a reading of -10.7 in November. Analysts had expected the index to rise to -6.0 in December.