Asian stocks rise a second day ahead of Fed decision
Bareksa • 18 Dec 2013
Japan Market (Reuters/Yuya Shino)
The Fed will start paring $85 billion of monthly bond purchases when it concludes its two-day policy meeting
Bloomberg - Asian stocks rose, with the benchmark regional index climbing for a second day, as investors await a Federal Reserve decision on its monthly stimulus program.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.1 percent to 137.72 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo, before markets open in China and Hong Kong. The measure fell the past two weeks as improving U.S. economic data spurred bets stimulus will be pared. There’s about a 60 percent chance that Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his colleagues will announce a reduction in their bond buying today, according to Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., which oversees $1.97 trillion as the world’s largest manager of bond funds.