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Stocks in Tokyo jumped higher after Japanese exports beat expectations, while the rest of Asia was mixed ahead of the conclusion of the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated policy meeting.

Japanese exports rose 18.4% from a year earlier in November, overshooting expectations for a 17.3% rise. That marked the ninth consecutive month of increase as manufacturers benefit from the lower yen brought about by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's pro-growth strategies. A recovery in exports is important for the country's economic recovery ahead of a planned sales tax increase in April.

The yen weakened slightly and was last at Yen102.78 compared with Yen102.67 late Tuesday in New York. It helped to support a 1.2% gain in the Nikkei.

Also in Tokyo, Sony Corp. underperformed the broader market and was up just 0.5% after a Nikkei report said the company firm is considering investing an additional Yen30 billion into a semiconductor facility that it intends to buy from Renesas Electronics Corp. That company's shares were recently up 1.8%.

Fed policy makers started to debate the future of the central bank's stimulus measures overnight, in a meeting that is expected to end with a decision later in the global day.

Regional markets have drifted downward in recent sessions ahead of this much-anticipated meeting, as investors speculated over the fate of the central bank's $85 billion-a-month bond-buying plan--a measure that has buoyed stock markets this year.

Strong economic data from the U.S., especially numbers relating to employment, has led some to believe that the Fed could start to roll back its easy money policies this months, though many believe that the central bank will wait until next year.

On Wednesday, most regional markets stuck close to the break-even mark, with South Korea's Kospi up 0.2%. Australia's S&P ASX 200 was flat.