"The Fed meeting... is widely watched by most market participants on what the decision is going to be on the rate hike, well not necessarily the rate hike but the rate decision, as well as what they're going to do with their balance sheet," said Taye Shim, head of research at Mirae Asset Sekuritas Indonesia. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 percent, while expectations that the Federal Reserve might signal a June rate hike helped lift the dollar.
Shares in Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, fell 0.5 percent to their lowest close since April 20, with losses being broad-based. "For Indonesia, I don't think that first-quarter GDP, which is expected to be out Friday, is going to top market expectations," said Shim. Bank Indonesia said economic growth in the first quarter was likely slower than its initial expectation, pointing to declining retail sales.
Philippine shares fell 0.3 percent with financials and telecoms leading the decline. GT Capital Holdings Inc dipped 2.6 percent, while Globe Telecom Inc dropped 2.3 percent. Asian equities saw inflows of about $3 billion in the week ended April 28, after two weeks of outflows, with Korea and Thailand receiving the highest, followed by Malaysia which got $332.6 million, MIDF Research said in a note.
"Foreign buying on Bursa has now stretched for 12 consecutive weeks, the longest since the 24-week buying streak which ended in May 2013, the month of the last General Election," said MIDF Research. Malaysian shares closed 0.3 percent lower, dragged down by financial, consumer and material stocks. In Singapore, financials outperformed other sectors. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd rose 2 percent and United Overseas Bank Ltd added 1.9 percent. Vietnam climbed 0.3 percent, posting their highest close since April 13, boosted by financials, while Thailand closed flat.
Copyright Reuters, 2017