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Hong Kong - Asian markets rose on Wednesday and the dollar held up against the yen after another record finish on Wall Street, but trade was cautious ahead of a Federal Reserve policy decision.
With few trading cues to drive business, investors took a recent batch of weak US data as enough evidence to suggest the central bank will keep its stimulus programme in place until the new year.
Tokyo rose 1.22% by the break, Hong Kong added 0.53%, Sydney was 0.37% higher, Seoul was flat and Shanghai gained 0.12%.
The rise in Japanese stocks also came after numbers showing factory output in the country saw a healthy rise in September from August, adding to evidence of a pick-up in the world's number-two economy.
Markets expect the Fed - wrapping up a two-day meeting on Wednesday - to keep its $85bn a month stimulus in place but will be poring over its announcement for clues as to when it will start winding down.
The bank had been expected to begin tapering by the end of this year but a weak set of data - including on jobs growth - and this month's two-week government shutdown has made that highly unlikely.
Most traders expect a reduction in bond-buying to begin in early 2014.
With more cash swirling around financial markets for the next few months, investors took advantage of the cheaper borrowing rates.
On Wall Street the Dow climbed 0.72% and the S&P 500 rose 0.56%, both to all-time highs, while the Nasdaq added 0.31%.
However, while the bond-buying generally weighs on the dollar, the unit managed to edge up to ¥98.17 on Tuesday in New York.
And in early Tokyo trade, the currency sat at ¥98.20. The euro fetched $1.3733 and ¥134.78, from $1.3744 and ¥134.93 in New York trade.
In Japan, the government said factory output rose 1.5% last month thanks to a pick-up in demand for electronics and cars.
The figures come a day after data showed a 3.7% jump in household spending last month and add to a growing feeling that the big-spending policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are gaining traction.
On oil markets, New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in December, was down 60 cents at $97.60, while Brent North Sea crude for December shed 36 cents to $108.65.
Gold rose to $1 341.00 at 04:40 compared with $1 346.92 on Tuesday.
