India’s Sensex is expected to remain range bound on Tuesday as investors are likely to remain cautious ahead of the meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee.
Investors are expecting the Federal Reserve to announce the extension of the $85 billion purchase of securities each month when Operation Twist, its maturity extension programme, ends on Dec 31.
On Monday, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.29 percent, or 27.46 points, to 9506.29. Among major losers were Unitika Corp (4.76 percent), Advantest Corp (3.97 percent) and OKUMA Corp (2.95 percent).
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.44 percent, or 106.45 points, to 22373.95. Among major gainers were Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited (0.80 percent) and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (0.45 percent).
South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index advanced 0.20 percent, or 3.98 points, to 1961.40. Shares of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd fell 1.14 percent and shares of LG Electronics Inc were up 0.53 percent.
On Monday, the U.S. stocks rose as investors hoped for Congress leaders to make progress in reaching an agreement to avert the fiscal cliff. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.11 percent, the S&P 500 Index was up 0.03 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.30 percent.
European markets marginally rose Monday but investors continued to maintain a watchful mode amid concerns of debt crisis affecting the euro zone. The debt burden faced by Italy rose with rising yield on 10-year Italian government bonds. Investors are worried in the wake of the intended resignation of Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. London's FTSE 100 was up 7.23 points, Germany's DAX 30 index rose 13.12 points and France's CAC 40 gained 6.49 points.
On Monday, Sensex marginally fell 0.07 percent to 19,409.69 at the close. The overall market breadth was positive with 1536 advances against 1406 declines. The BSE's Midcap Index advanced 0.65 percent to 7,116.60 and Smallcap Index rose 0.32 percent to 7,470.08.
