Asian markets rally as investors shrug off sanctions
Asian markets are rising as tensions in the Crimea cooled and investors failed to be significantly deterred by the limited US and EU sanctions imposed on Russia.
The EU and the US imposed asset freezes and visa restrictions for a small number of Russian officials. However, markets will be keeping a close watch on the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.
Investors are expecting the Fed to continue with tapering its monthly asset purchases and possibly alter its approach to signal that rates will remain low for some time, even if unemployment falls to 6.5 per cent.
The Nikkei is up 1.4 per cent while the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index is making gains of 0.4 per cent. South Korea's Kospi is also up 0.7 per cent while the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index is enjoying more modest gains of 0.2 per cent. The Tokyo Stock Exchange Tokyo Price Index is up 1.1 per cent