Asian shares traded mixed, despite Friday's positive finish on Wall Street, as investors remained cautious in advance of the Federal Reserve meeting this week.

All eyes are on the US policy meeting, which ends with a decision on Thursday on whether to raise interest rates for the first time in almost a decade.

Economists are split on whether the long-awaited move will happen.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.1% to 18,240.26 points.

Japanese investors are also looking ahead to the conclusion of the Bank of Japan's two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, where they are expected to maintain their easing programme.

China shares up

In China, investors ignored a raft of Chinese economic data over the weekend that showed new signs of the slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

Growth in both fixed-asset investment, up 10.9% in August from a year ago, and factory output, at 6.1%, came in below expectations.

The Shanghai Composite was up 0.6% to 3,220.57, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was higher by 0.8% to 21,679.57 in early trade.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.5% to 5,094.30 points.

Shares in Oil Search were down 1.2% after it rejected an $8bn (£5.2bn) takeover proposal from Australia's biggest energy firm Woodside Petroleum, saying the offer was too cheap.

South Korea's benchmark Kospi was down 0.2% to 1,937.35.

(BBC)