Federal Reserve hiking rates by only 50 bps could be a bigger surprise today

Equities in Asian markets saw mixed moves on Wednesday as investors awaited the outcome of a key Fed policy meeting due later in the day.

Investors globally remained convinced that a fresh 40-year peak in US inflation will prompt a hawkish Fed to take up more aggressive hikes in COVID-era interest rates, and in turn, hamper economic growth. The Federal Reserve may be looking to raise interest rates by 75 bps - its biggest in 28 years. But a bigger surprise later today could be if the Fed only hikes rate by 50 bps.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 percent in early hours. Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 0.7 percent, China's Shanghai Composite up 0.5 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 0.9 percent, the S&P 500 was down 0.38 percent, NASDAQ was higher 0.18 percent, Dow Jones was lower 0.50 percent.