Most Asian stock indices rose ahead of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen today. Markets participants are awaiting new information on when the Fed could start to increase its interest rate.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept unchanged its interest rate. Japan's central bank will continue to expend the monetary base at an annual pace of about 60-70 trillion yen.

The BoJ lowered its growth forecast to 1.0% for the current financial year ending in March from the previous growth of a 1.1%.

Indexes on the close:

Nikkei 225 15,395.16 +98.34 +0.64%

Hang Seng 23,459.96 +113.29 +0.49%

Shanghai Composite 2,070.36 +3.71 +0.18%