Asian Shares Mixed After Hawkish Fed Comments

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended mixed on Tuesday after several Fed officials said it's too soon to talk about rate cuts.

Amid uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's rate path, investors looked ahead to the release of a slew of U.S. economic data this week for further direction.

Copper traded flat while gold ticked lower as the dollar received support from hawkish comments from New York Fed President John Williams and the Chicago Fed's Austan Goolsbee.

Oil held steady near two-week highs amid concerns of supply disruptions following an escalation in attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthi militia.

Chinese shares ended little changed, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite finishing marginally higher at 2,932.39 after a choppy session.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.75 percent to 16,505 after a magnitude-6.2 earthquake struck a remote and mountainous county on the northern edge of the Chinese Qinghai-Tibetan plateau just before midnight on Monday.

Japanese shares posted strong gains while the yen reversed gains after the Bank of Japan left its guidance and ultra-easy policy unchanged, as widely expected. The central bank also kept its stance on its yield curve control policy unchanged.

The Nikkei average rallied 1.41 percent to 33,219.39 while the broader Topix index closed 0.73 percent higher at 2,333.81.

Technology stocks topped the gainers list, with Tokyo Electron and Advantest climbing 3.7 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively.

Nippon Steel Corp lost 2.8 percent after an announcement that it would buy United States Steel Corp for $14.1 billion to create the world's second-largest steel company.

Seoul stocks ended marginally higher to extend gains for a fourth day running on U.S. rate cut hopes.

Australian markets rose notably as RBA's latest meeting minutes struck a balanced tone. The benchmark S&P ASX 200 jumped 0.84 percent to 7,489.10, led by energy stocks. The broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.87 percent higher at 7,715.90.

Azure Minerals advanced 1.7 percent after the lithium developer received a sweetened takeover offer from Chile's SQM and Hancock Prospecting.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.45 percent to 11,617.37.

U.S. stocks edged higher overnight amid renewed optimism that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next year. Merger & acquisition buzz also boosted sentiment.

The Dow inched up marginally, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6 percent and the S&P 500 added half a percent.