Asian equities trade higher ahead of Fed meeting

After US shares ended January on a high note, investors in Asia were headed for gains as signs of cooling inflation encouraged risk appetite ahead of the Wednesday Federal Reserve meeting.

Futures contracts for the Japanese, Australian and Hong Kong equity benchmarks edged higher. The S&P 500 rose by 1.5% to close out its best month since October. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index rallied by 1.6% for the best month since July and the strongest start to a year since 2001.

Contracts for the Nifty 50 index of Indian blue chips also went up. Adani Enterprises Ltd., a member of the benchmark, raised $2.5 billion in a closely watched follow-on equity sale Tuesday. After fraud allegations by short seller Hindenburg Research, the transaction provides some relief for Gautam Adani.

Australian and New Zealand yields fell after a rally in Treasuries dragged the 10 year benchmark three basis points lower on Tuesday. An index of the dollar was slightly decreased and the yen strengthened.

The US stocks' gains were helped along by wage cost data that undershot forecasts. Separate figures showed that the US housing market continued to cool. The Fed has started to curtail inflation with rate hikes over the past year, and there are encouraging signs that they have begun to do so. The central bank is about to unveil a 25 basis point rate increase Wednesday and investors will be keenly parsing Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments for signs that the tightening cycle may soon pause.

Earnings in the US were mixed on Tuesday. McDonald s Corp. and Caterpillar Inc. fell short of profit estimates, while General Motors Co. and Exxon Mobil Corp. outpaced forecasts, with the oil major posting its highest ever full-year profit.

Some of the main moves in markets are:

The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7562 per dollar.

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