(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market opened lower on Wednesday with investors treading a cautious path, as they look ahead to the outcome of the two-day U.S. Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which dropped down to 9,768 in early trades, briefly rebounded into positive territory before sliding to 9,792, down 11 points, or 0.11%, from its previous close. The index had ended lower by 231.8 points, or 2.3%, at 9,8025 on Monday. The Japanese market was closed on Tuesday due to a national holiday.

Toyota Motor and Honda Motor are trading modestly higher, while Mazda Motor and Mitsubishi Motors are trading flat. Shares of transport equipment maker Nissan Motor Co. are trading firm on reports that the carmaker will likely mass-produce lithium ion batteries for French parent Renault SA for use in electric vehicles.

Bank stocks are mostly trading lower. Machinery, electric machinery, steel and non-ferrous metals stocks are trading mixed. Food and chemicals stocks are exhibiting weakness. Shares of trading houses, real estate companies and securities firms are also mostly down in negative territory. Select pharmaceutical stocks are edging higher.

Shares of Fast Retailing Co. are up over 3% as the casual clothier said Monday evening that same-store sales at its flagship Uniqlo store chain rose 35.7% year on year in October with winter garments including its Heattech thermal underwear and fleece outfits seeing healthy sales.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the lower 90-yen range early Wednesday in Tokyo, up slightly from its late Tuesday quotes in New York. In early trades, the dollar fetched 90.40-90.43 yen, up from Tuesday's close of 90.28-90.38 yen in New York.

Among other stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore, Korea and Taiwan are up with notable gains. Australia is up modestly, while New Zealand and Shanghai are trading flat. Markets across the region had ended lower on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw a choppy trading session on Tuesday, despite some signs of life on the M&A front and positive news on factory orders. The major averages closed on the opposite sides of the unchanged mark with a section of traders choosing to stay on the sidelines ahead of release of key economic reports later on in the week.

While the Dow ended lower by 17.5 points, or 0.2%, at 9,771.9, the Nasdaq closed up 8.1 points, or 0.4%, at 2,057.3 and the S&P 500 edged up 2.5 points, or 0.2%, 1,045.4.

Major European markets closed notably lower on Tuesday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 1.3%, while the German DAX index and the French CAC 40 index dropped by 1.4% and 1.5% respectively.

Crude oil prices turned higher on Tuesday. Light sweet crude for December rose to US$79.06 a barrel, up 93 cents on the session.

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