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(RTTNews) - Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday, with Tokyo market closed for a holiday. Markets awaited the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting tonight. Shanghai market rose to a new all time high on sustained buying interest.

Wellington shares recovered from yesterday's loss to close up moderately, as top stock Telecom redeemed and after Wall Street closed higher overnight.

The benchmark NZX 50 share index added 10.90 points or 0.3% to close at 4,052.51. Top stock Telecom rose 1.1%. Auckland International gained 1.3%. Air New Zealand jumped 3.3%. Fletcher Building increased 1.6%. Freightways advanced 1.2%.

Contact Energy and Ebos Group gave up 0.9% each. Fisher & Paykel Appliances shed 0.5%, while Fisher & Paykel Healthcare declined 0.8%. Guinness Peat ended flat.

Sydney shares ended moderately lower, on speculation for a rate-hike and as investors preferred to wait for the outcome of US Federal Reserve meeting tonight. The key S&P/ASX 200 index shed 14.70 points or 0.3% to close at 5,861.90.

Westfield slipped 2.2%. Stockland fell 1.2%. GPT Group declined 1.4%. But, Leighton Holdings shot up 4.7%. The company refrained from its offer for Alinta Ltd. Boom Logistics fell 2.2%. Boral gave up 2.4%. However, Rinker increased 0.9%.

Among metals, BHP Billiton edged up 0.3%. Rio Tinto gained 0.7%. Iluka declined 1.5%. Kagara Zinc slumped 4%. Lihir Gold added 0.3%. Smorgon Steel leapt 6.5%, after BlueScope gave way for OneSteel Ltd. to acquire Smorgon. BlueScope rose 0.6%, after the company preferred to acquire Smorgon's steel distribution unit for A$700 million. OneSteel lost 1.5%.

Seoul shares ended marginally lower, as cautious investors awaited the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting tonight. The South Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar.

The main Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 1.32 points or 0.1% to 1,442.85. LG Card nosedived 15%, after Shinhan Financial Group completed its public tender on Monday. Among techs, LG Philips LCD fell 2.7%. But, Hynix Semiconductor gained 1.8%, after the company agreed to end its legal battle with Japan's Toshiba Corp. over chip patent rights.

Kia Motor added 0.4%. But, Hyundai Motor ended down 0.3%. Hyundai Heavy Industries jumped 2.4%. Hanjin Shipping edged up 0.3%. Hyundai Steel gave up 0.9%. But, POSCO advanced 0.8%.

Among techs, BenQ fell 2.2%, after the company reported a loss for fourth quarter. Hon Hai ended flat. Chi Mei gained 0.6%, after the company announced to pair with Hon Hai to form a new venture, Ampower, with investments of US$14 million from each side. Acer surged 3.7%, after Gateway of U.S. denied reports of negotiations to sell the company to Acer. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing was up 0.7%.

The main Shanghai Composite Index added 25.18 points or 0.8% to close at 3,057.38. Anxin Trust & Investment and Shenzhen Development Bank surged more than 5% each. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank soared 4.6%. Shaanxi International Trust & Investment increased 2.5%. Celebrities Real Estate Development Group jumped 4.9%.

Shanxi Guanlu rose its 10% daily limit, after the company said China Minmetals Corp. might buy a stake in the company. Tian Di Science & Technology fell 3.9%. XuGong Science & Technology sank 3.8%. Sany Heavy Industry declined 2.9%.

Hong Kong shares ended up modestly, on expectations of promising earnings results from blue chips. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 159.51 points or 0.8% to close at 19,516.41.

China Mobile rose 1.2%. After markets closed, the company reported a 23.3% rise in net profit for 2006 at 66 billion yuan, which came in line with market expectations.

Henderson Land grew 1.9%. Wharf Holdings increased 1.1%. Li & Fung advanced 0.7%. After markets closed, the company reported that net profit for 2006 rose to HK$2.20 billion from HK$1.79 billion a year before.

Cheung Kong jumped 2.3%. Analysts forecast a 20 - 30% rise in 2006- net profit for the company. Hutchison Whampoa climbed more than 3%. The company is expected to report a full-year net profit of HK$17.5 - HK$20.2 billion, up from a year earlier figure of HK$14.34 billion.

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