Asian markets rally ahead of Fed rate decision

US markets also rise

Asian stocks reached a three-week high overnight, while US markets were elevated at close yesterday, ahead of today's Federal Reserve interest rate decision.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was up 1.3% to around 18,400 points, while the US Dow Jones and S&P 500 also closed up 0.8% each on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Hang Seng index climbed 0.4% while the Shanghai SSE Composite soared 4.9% as investors consolidated their positions ahead of a possible rate hike from the US Federal Reserve later today. The Fed is meeting to consider raising US interest rates for the first time since 2006, with their decision due this evening. Financial markets have predicted a rate rise throughout the majority of the year, but these faded last month due to glob...