Dhaka, Sept. 18 -- Asian markets were mostly higher Thursday, driven by technology stocks, following a mixed session on Wall Street that left indexes close to record levels after the Federal Reserve cut its main interest rate.

Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 1.3% to 45,365.98, boosted by tech firms such as Disco, Tokyo Electron, and SoftBank. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan began its two-day policy meeting, with no changes in interest rates expected. South Korea's Kospi rose nearly 1.3% to 3,455.98, supported by gains in chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.

China's markets showed mixed performance: Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.2% to 26,856.02, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.5% to 3,893.95 amid optimism over U.S.-China trade talks...