Asian markets mostly recover from hefty sell-off

Hong Kong - Most Asia shares rose on Wednesday as calm returned to global markets after a heavy sell-off at the start of the week, with investors taking a cue from a rally on Wall Street ahead of a key US Federal Reserve policy meeting later in the day.

Shanghai edged up on easing concerns about government's measures to support mainland equities that were put in place at the start of the month to prevent a market meltdown.

Shanghai added 1.32% after slumping more than 10% in the past three sessions, while Hong Kong rose 0.82%, Sydney gained 1.32%, Seoul was 0.49% higher and Singapore advanced 0.32%.

But Tokyo eased 0.35%, weighed by a stronger yen.

US and European bourses recovered on Tuesday from the previous day's huge losses that were sparked by Shanghai's 8.48% plunge.

Wall Street snapped a five-day losing streak thanks to strong earnings from shipping giant UPS as well as bump in petroleum stocks.

The Dow climbed 1.08%, the S&P 500 gained 1.24% and the Nasdaq jumped 0.98%.

That followed healthy rises in London, Paris and Frankfurt.

"Often when a lot of stocks get washed out, we get a rebound," Nader Naeimi, Sydney-based head of dynamic asset allocation at AMP Capital Investors, told Bloomberg News.

The US central bank ends a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday and traders will be poring over its comments to get a handle on its plans for raising interest rates.

While expectations are for a hike in either September or December, Naeimi said the events in China and elsewhere would likely have an impact on policymakers' decision-making.

"The Fed will be focused on global conditions. What's happening globally can't be totally ignored."

On currency markets the dollar eased to ¥123.44 from ¥123.56 in New York, while the euro changed hands at $1.1073 and ¥136.78 against $1.1058 and ¥136.64.

Oil prices continue to fall on worries about the global economy as well as a global supply glut. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for September delivery fell four cents to $47.94 and Brent crude for September declined nine cents to $53.21 in morning Asian trade.

Gold fetched $1 096.18 an ounce compared with $1 091.80 late on Tuesday.