BANGKOK — Asian shares were mostly higher in cautious trading Tuesday as the Federal Reserve and other central banks prepared for the year’s final barrage of interest rate hikes.
Oil prices gained more than $1 a barrel.
Markets have struggled this year thanks to high inflation and the interest rate hikes engineered to combat it. Higher rates slow business activity by design but also risk causing a recession if they go too high, all while dragging down prices of investments.
The next big milestone comes with Tuesday’s release of the latest update on inflation at the consumer level. Economists have forecast that inflation slowed to 7.3% last month from 7.7% in October.
Policymakers at the Federal Reserve begin a meeting Tuesday. When it wraps up Wednesday, investors expect the central bank to announce its last rate hike of the year.
Other central banks around the world, including…
