Asian stocks rise, track US gains before Federal Reserve meeting

Investors are looking for clues as to whether the Federal Reserve plans to tighten monetary policy.

Asian stocks rose on Tuesday, tracking gains by Wall Street’s main indexes to record highs, as investors looked to key central bank meetings this week, starting with the United States Federal Reserve. An index of the region’s share markets excluding Japan strengthened by 0.7 percent, led by a 1.2 percent jump in Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.6 percent to just below the closely watched 30,000 mark, while the broader Topix added 0.5 percent.