Asian stocks mixed ahead of possible Fed guidance

By ANNABELLE LIANG
Associated Press

SINGAPORE (AP) — Asian stock markets are mixed as investors await more guidance on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s easing plans. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.3% while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.6% on Friday. Benchmarks in South Korea and Shanghai advanced but Sydney fell. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at the central bank’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later Friday. Any indicators when the bank will start scaling back on asset purchases will be watched. The moves in Asia follow a pullback on Wall Street, on news of deadly attacks at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.