Asia-Pacific markets advance on Wednesday, mirroring global sentiment as investors braced for the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy decision, with the central bank widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged.

Asian stocks advanced Wednesday in thin Lunar New Year trading following a rebound on Wall Street driven by tech stocks as the panic over Chinese AI company DeepSeek faded. Investors were focusing on the Federal Reserve’s rate decision due later in the day.

Many of the region’s biggest equity markets — including those in Hong Kong, mainland China and South Korea — are closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

U.S. stock indexes ended slightly lower on Wednesday, and tech was the biggest drag on the S&P 500, as the benchmark slipped 0.5%

Shares in Japan opened slightly lower, weighing down a gauge of Asian equities despite a small gain for shares in Australia. Many of the region’s equity markets including China, South Korea and Taiwan remained closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.