OVERNIGHT

                                        

Thin trading volume may set the market tone ahead of the Federal Reserve's upcoming two-day meeting this week where it's  expected they will announce QE is toast. At least that seems to be the cases overnight in Japan.

Though it's been in the news for a while now, one gets the feeling many investors are, to paraphrase an old saying from a black day in baseball history, "Say it ain't so, Janet!"

Odds are, however, it is so and investors will be trying to gauge the lay of the economic investment landscape as they adjust or go through withdrawals. In Europe investors will be trying assess the results of bank stress testing.

A cynic having seen the numbers--25 naughty banks out of 130 and the amount of under-capitalization a mere €48 billion--might say it smells a bit over cooked. But there aren't any more cynics around are there?

TOKYO, Oct 27 - Japanese stocks rose on Monday to a 2-1/2 week high as upbeat U.S. data and a weaker yen lifted sentiment in the overall market, but volume was thin as investors awaited the outcome of a two-day U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting this week. The Nikkei share index ended 0.6 percent higher at 15,388.72, the highest closing level since Oct. 9. But only a total of 1.81 billion shares changed hands on the broader Topix, the lowest since Sept. 8.