Asian shares firm, dollar holds ground before Fed

Stocks rose modestly on Tuesday in Asia, with technology stocks nosing ahead, while the dollar held its ground before a Federal Reserve policy meeting.

The US Federal Reserve was widely expected to keep its key lending rate at virtually zero percent Tuesday as financial markets look for signals of future monetary policy tightening.Central bank chief Ben Bernanke chairs the one-day session of the Federal Open Market Committee, which analysts expect to be a heated affair with some members seeking to end the Fed's pledge to keep rates low "for an extended period."

The man hand-picked by George Osborne to run the Bank of England has fuelled speculation that he will order a policy revolution to jump-start the stalled British economy as fears grow of a triple-dip recession, reports The Guardian.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian sha

By MarketPulse FX: By Scott Boyd

Reuters - The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to surprise no one on Wednesday by holding interest rates near zero and repeating its vow of an extended period of very low rates at the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting.