Asia opens mixed but mostly higher

Asian stock indices opened the third session of the week mostly higher with Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea higher, while China and Hong Kong lost ground, following earlier Asian data and ahead of Federal Reserve's policy decisions today. 

Earlier New Zealand data showed the current account surplus down to 1.83 billion New Zealand dollars from 1.9 billion in the first quarter. 

From Japan, the trade surplus widened to 248.3 billion yen from 11.6 billion in July, while the seasonally-adjusted reading showed a surplus of 0.35 trillion yen, down from 0.04 trillion in July. 

The Federal Reserve is holding its policy meeting today through satellite, expected to maintain rates at near zero while revealing three-year estimates for inflation, unemployment, and growth. 

Japan's TOPEX rose 0.33%, while Nikkei 225 rose 0.14% to 23,487. 

China's CSI 300 inched down 0.22%, while Shanghai lost 0.02% to 3,295. 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng inched down 0.05%, while South Korea's KOSPI rose 0.12% to 2,446. 

New Zealand's NZX 50 rose 0.52%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.98% to 5,952.