Markets in the Asia-Pacific traded mostly higher ahead of the Jackson Hole symposium kicking off in the U.S. Hong Kong’s morning session was canceled due to the issuance of a typhoon warning.In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.09% while the Shenzhen Component was down 0.55%.Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 0.56% higher while the Topix was up 0.38%. Australia’s S&P/ASX was also up by 0.8%.In South Korea, the Kospi rose 0.79% and the Kosdaq was up 1.47% as the Bank of Korea raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points.Stocks in the U.S. rose overnight, snapping a three-day slide in the Dow and the S&P 500, as investors awaited more clarity on the Federal Reserve’s fight against inflation.In currencies, the U.S. dollar rose as high as 109.11 overnight before falling back to around 108.6.“Expectations of a hawkish message from FOMC Chair Powell at Jackson Hole will likely keep upward pressure on the USD in the run‑up to his speech on Friday,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Senior Economist and Currency Strategist Kristina Clifton said in a report.Hong Kong is slated to report July’s trade data later in the afternoon.Bank of Japan member says he wants to stick to ultra-loose policyBank of Japan member Toyoaki Nakamura stressed the need to “patiently maintain” its stance on monetary easing, according to Reuters.In a speech, he said that tightening monetary policy when the output gap remains negative would weigh heavily on the economic activities of households.Japan has continued to keep monetary policy ultra loose as other central banks raising rates aggressively. Inflation in Japan is above target, but not as high as in the U.S. and U.K.Nakamura said the gap between inflation in Japan and other economies is due largely to slow wage growth.He also said if China resumes restrictive Covid measures, it would prolong supply disruptions and hurt Japan’s exports, output, and capital expenditure.Qantas shares jump after the buyback announcement, earnings reportShares of Australian airline Qantas jumped as much as 10% after the company reported earnings and announced plans for a share buyback.The company posted an underlying loss before tax of 1.86 billion Australian dollars ($1.29 billion) for financial year of 2022.“While the first three quarters of the year were defined by border closures and waves of uncertainty caused by Covid variants, the fourth quarter saw the highest sustained levels of travel demand since the start of the pandemic,” Qantas said in a statement.It also announced plans to buy back shares worth up to 400 million Australian dollars, according to a filing.“This is the first return to shareholders since 2019 and follows $1.4 billion of equity raised at the start of the pandemic,” the company said.Hong Kong delayed its morning session due to the issuance of Typhoon Signal No. 8, the exchange announced on its website. The session’s likely to resume in the afternoon as the signal has now been downgraded to a T3.“If Typhoon Signal No. 8 or above, or any announcement of Extreme Conditions, remains issued at 9:00 am, the morning trading sessions for all markets will be cancelled,” it says.The HKEX’s guidance on its website on resuming its session says, “trading will begin on the first half hour approximately two hours after the discontinuation of the Typhoon Signal No. 8 or any Extreme Conditions announcement.”cnbc.com