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· Asian stocks gain as upbeat China data lifts mood

Asian equities advanced on Tuesday and the dollar slipped, with investor sentiment supported by Chinese data and optimism about COVID-19 vaccines.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.5%, for a fourth straight day of gains, up nearly 3% so far this year.

Chinese blue chips added 0.7%, buoyed by data showing China’s industrial output rose 5.6% in August from a year ago, expanding for a fifth straight month. The yuan climbed to a 16-month high. [B9N2F802B]

Investors will also look to central banks for direction, with the U.S. Federal Reserve starting a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, the first since unveiling a landmark shift to a more tolerant stance on inflation in August.

The Bank of Japan and the Bank of England announce their respective policy decisions on Thursday.

Markets will be focused on projections from Fed policymakers on the U.S. growth outlook and on any details about what the bank intends to do to encourage inflation.

· Japanese shares slip on firmer yen, profit-taking after election

Japanese shares closed lower on Tuesday as a stronger yen pressured exporters and investors booked profits after a three-day rally in the run up to the ruling party election, where Abe ally Yoshihide Suga was picked as the new leader.

The benchmark Nikkei share average ended down 0.44% at 23,454.89, having hit a fresh seven-month high in the previous session. There were 45 advancers on the index against 175 decliners.

The profit-taking came after Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, a long-time loyal aide of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was elected head of Japan’s ruling party on Monday, all but confirming he would replace Abe as prime minister on Wednesday.

The broader Topix lost 0.62% to 1,640.84, with highly cyclical iron and steel, airlines and mining being the three worst-performing sectors on the main bourse.

· China stocks rise on upbeat economic data, vaccine hopes

China stocks ended higher on Tuesday, as upbeat Chinese economic data and coronavirus vaccine hopes lifted risk appetite.

The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.8% to 4,688.48, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.5% to 3,295.68.

China’s industrial output accelerated the most in eight months in August, while retail sales grew for the first time this year, suggesting the economic recovery is gathering pace as demand starts to improve more broadly from the coronavirus crisis.

Sentiment is also aided by news that coronavirus vaccines being developed in China may be ready for use by the general public as early as November.