Asian Shares Edge Up

        Stocks in Asia edged higher Wednesday after a volatile session overseas, but analysts warned that gains could be short lived as investors watch out for the U.S. Federal Reserve's statement later in the day.
        The Nikkei Stock Average was flat, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6% and Korea's Kospi edged up 0.3%.
        "After several days of steep falls, stocks are definitely cheap enough to pick up, but the markets remains beholden to exterior influences such as volatile currency and commodity price," said Hiroichi Nishi, SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities. "The turmoil may be far from over."
        Investors appeared to return to the region after falling oil prices, jitters in Russia and worries about tighter U.S. monetary policy battered emerging markets earlier in the week. Yesterday, selling pushed India's rupee down to its weakest level in more than a year, while stocks in Singapore and Malaysia lost more than 2%.
        Still, the Federal Reserve is expected to a release a statement Wednesday that could give clearer indication of when it will raise short-term interest rates in the U.S. next year, a move that might sap money flows from riskier markets in Asia and further boost the U.S. dollar.
        Broad swings rattled the U.S. market overnight, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for the third successive session. West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell over 4% to a new 5 1/2 -year low before closing up slightly in New York.
        Write to Chao Deng at Chao.Deng@wsj.com
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        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        December 16, 2014 20:50 ET (01:50 GMT)

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