Asian markets dip, dollar buoyant as US Fed meet comes into view

Japan's Nikkei was down 0.5 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI slid 0.5 per cent

Asian stocks edged lower early on Monday following a slide by US technology shares and the dollar rose ahead of this week's US Federal Reserve policy meeting, with markets hoping for more guidance on the central bank's interest rate path.

The Fed holds a two-day meeting ending on Wednesday at which it is widely expected to hike interest rates. The focus is on whether the Fed thinks the US economy is robust enough to withstand further rate increases through 2017.

A rate hike accompanied by a message suggesting that the Fed may raise rates more than expected in 2017 would support the