Japan Markets Mostly Higher Ahead Of Fed Decision

Japanese stocks were trading higher on Wednesday. The Nikkei 225 climbed 0.16 percent, or 31.5 points to 19,282.00, and the TOPIX rose 0.04 percent, or 0.40 points to 1,540.64.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF EWJ shares rose 1.18 percent to close at $51.35, while iShares MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Idx (ETF) EPP gained 0.60 percent to close at $41.90 on Tuesday.

USD/JPY increased to 115.17 on Wednesday. The Bank of Japan's Tankan survey, showing a measure of business sentiment among large Japanese manufacturers, increased to a reading of 10 for December, versus a previous reading of 6.

West Texas Intermediate for January delivery declined 1.30 percent to trade at $53.24 per barrel on the NYMEX, while Brent for February settlement fell 1.24 percent to $55.03 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET. U.S. markets closed higher on Tuesday, with the Dow gaining 0.58 percent to 19,911.21, and the NASDAQ rising 0.95 percent to 5,463.83.

Top market movers among the Japanese market are as follows:

• Shares of Traders Holdings Co Ltd (8704) climbed around 33 percent to 201.0 JPY.
• Fushiki Kairiku Unso Co Ltd (9361) shares rose around 28 percent to 368.0 JPY.
• Yasunaga Corp (7271) shares increased over 22 percent to 2,194.0 JPY.

• Insource Co Ltd (6200) declined over 11 percent to 1,273.0 JPY.
• TEAC Corp (6803) shares dropped around 7 percent to 51.0 JPY.
• Japan Best Rescue System Co Ltd (2453) shares fell 7 percent to 254.0 JPY.