Shares gain as Evergrande says it will make interest payment

Shares were mixed in Asia on Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's latest assessment on the U.S. economy.

Shares rose in Paris, Frankfurt and Shanghai but fell in Tokyo.

Markets have been rattled by Evergrande's struggle to meet debt payments and uncertainty over what if anything the Chinese government might do to limit the impact of a possible default.

Evergrande, one of China's biggest private sector conglomerates, said it will make a payment due Thursday on a 4 billion yuan (US$620 million) bond denominated in Chinese yuan.

A company statement gave no indication whether that meant any change in the payment. The bond has a 5.8% interest rate, which would make the normal amount due 232 million yuan ($36 million) for one year.