Asian shares mostly higher as investors look ahead to Fed

Asian shares were mostly higher on Monday amid a wait-and-see attitude about the direction of interest rates and the trade dispute between the US and China.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.3 percent to 21,170.63 in morning trading. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.3 percent to 6,535.50, while South Korea's Kospi edged up nearly 0.2 percent to 2,099.26.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.2 percent to 27,447.42, while the Shanghai Composite was up 0.2 percent at 2,888.58.

On Wall Street, stocks ended a choppy week of trading with modest losses.

The S&P 500 index fell 4.66 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,886.98 Friday and ended the week with a slim gain of 0.5 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 17.16 points, or 0.1 percent, to 26,089.61. The Nasdaq composite slid 40.47 points, or 0.5 percent, to 7,796.66.

Earlier this month, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell set off a market rally after he signaled that the central bank is willing to cut interest rates to help stabilize the economy if the trade war between Washington and Beijing starts to slow economic growth.

The Fed holds its next meeting of policyholders this week, but no action on rates is expected.

Economists expect Fed officials to wait until the second week of July to indicate whether they intend to cut rates, after seeing the next government report on the jobs market and other economic data.

Market watchers are also closely watching the results of the G-20 summit in late June, where President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could meet and try to negotiate a deal on trade.