Asia markets set for gains, all eyes on Fed decision

Investors were watching a number of manufacturing data as the Asia-Pacific market opened higher ahead of an announcement from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Markets expect the Fed to maintain its interest rate policy after the Fed's two-day meeting.

China, India and South Korea are expected to release their purchasing managers' index for October.

Futures on Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index stood at 17,113. This indicates a slightly higher opening compared to the HSI close of 17,112.48.

The Nikkei index is expected to rise. Futures contracts in Chicago and Osaka are at 31,315 yen, respectively.

The S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia traded at a 0.37% increase.

U.S. stock prices closed higher on Monday, recovering some ground after a dismal and characterized by rising interest rate month.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.48%, while S&P 500 rose 0.65%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.38%.

The stock market has now suffered its third consecutive month of losses. Dow Jones and S&P 500 both fell by 1.4% and 2.2% respectively.

6 Hours Ago

Dubravko lakos-Bujas is chief global equity strategist for JPMorgan. He says that investors should be on the defensive as we approach year end.

He said the delayed effects of Federal Reserve interest rate increases will be more dramatic that traders currently expect. The strategist urged investors to keep cash on hand and invest in more resilient areas of the market. He is a fan of utilities, health care and dividend aristocrats.

He said on CNBC's Halftime Report that "I believe there's just an effect of lag." "And this time in this cycle, we may see a longer lag than we are used to seeing in previous cycles due to the unprecedented injection we received during Covid and the relatively healthy start point for things such as balance sheets."

According to CNBC Market Strategist Survey, his 4,200-point target for the S&P 500 at year's end is only a few points above the S&P 500 closing Monday.