An employee works at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022.
Toru Hanai | Bloomberg via Getty Images
Asia-Pacific stock markets were largely lower on Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve opted to hold interest rates steady at the end of its two-day meeting.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell ruled out the possibility of a rate hike, easing worries over the central bank likely not being able to rein in inflation.
Focus will be on the Japanese yen, which had a volatile start to the week amid suspected government intervention to prop up the currency on Monday. It was last trading at 155.83 against the U.S. dollar.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.70%, while the broader Topix shed 0.4% in early trading.
South Korea’s Kospi was about 0.1% lower, while the smaller-cap Kosdaq dipped 0.1%. Investors parsed consumer prices data from South Korea, which showed a slower rise in April from March.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2%.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,460, after the HSI’s closed at 17,763.03.
Wall Street stock indexes ended the session mixed on Wednesday after the Fed meeting.
The Dow added 87.37 points, or 0.23%. The S&P 500 shed 0.34%, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.33%.
— CNBC’s Samantha Subin and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.