GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian stocks follow Wall Street higher ahead of Fed meeting

By Kevin Buckland and Elizabeth Dilts Marshall
TOKYO/NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on
Tuesday, tracking an advance by Wall Street's main indexes to
record highs, as investors looked to key central bank meetings
this week, starting with the U.S. Federal Reserve.
An index of the region's share markets excluding Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS strengthened 0.7%, led by a 1.2% jump in
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO .
Japan's Nikkei 225 .N225 gained 0.6% to just below the
closely watched 30,000 mark, while the broader Topix .TPX
added 0.5%.
China's blue chip CSI 300 index .CSI300 climbed 0.7%, and
Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI gained 0.7%.
On Monday, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both
soared on gains in travel stocks as mass vaccinations in the
United States and congressional approval of a $1.9 trillion aid
bill fueled investor optimism.
E-mini futures for the S&P 500 EScv1 edged up 0.06%.
Investors are focused on the Fed's two-day policy meeting,
which will conclude on Wednesday, as bond yields have surged
this year on investors betting central bankers will need to
raise rates sooner than they have so far signaled to contain
inflation. Fed policymakers are expected to forecast that the
U.S. economy will grow in 2021 by the fastest rate in decades.
The Bank of England also meets this week on Thursday, while
the Bank of Japan wraps up a two-day gathering on Friday.
"Markets are likely to be in a holding pattern ahead of
this...heavy central bank-laden week," write analysts at TD
Securities.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
174.82 points, or 0.53%, to 32,953.46, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
25.6 points, or 0.65%, to 3,968.94 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 139.84 points, or 1.05%, to 13,459.71.
Airline shares .SPCOMAIR rose as the companies pointed to
concrete signs of an industry recovery as vaccine rollouts help
spur leisure bookings. Germany, France and Italy hit pause on AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) AZN.L
COVID-19 shots after several countries reported possible serious
side effects.
The development will be watched in Australia, where the
vaccine is also administered.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX was flat on
Monday, after touching its highest level since February 2020.
Longer-term U.S. Treasury yields slipped further on Tuesday,
as the market looked ahead to the Fed meeting and the latest
government debt auctions. The benchmark 10-year yield US10YT=RR , which reached a
more than one-year high of 1.642% last week, was back at 1.595%
Rising inflation expectations could prompt the Federal Open
Market Committee to signal it will start raising rates sooner
than expected.
In currencies, the U.S. dollar held small gains from
overnight in muted price action ahead of the central bank
meetings.
The greenback was largely flat at 109.165 yen JPY= , after
rising as high as 109.365 on Monday for the first time since
June.
The euro EUR= was little changed at $1.19320, languishing
for an eighth session below the closely watched $1.20 level.
Bitcoin BTC=BTSP continued its slide from a record high of
$61,781.83 reached on Saturday, last trading 3% weaker on the
day at around $53,915.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 for April changed
hands at $64.79 a barrel, down 60 cents. Brent crude futures
LCOc1 for May stood at $68.21 a barrel, losing 67 cents.

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