Asian markets mixed after Fed keeps rate unchanged

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of – Asian markets were mixed on Thursday with Tokyo stocks higher as the yen weakened against the U.S. dollar. Chinese markets declined after the U.S. Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.3 per cent to 23,393.57 and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.1 per cent to 2,568.28. But Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipped 0.1 per cent to 32,843.20 and China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.9 per cent to 3,449.93. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.8 per cent to 6,083.60. Stocks in Southeast Asia were mixed.

ANALYST’S TAKE: “Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s last meeting prior to stepping down saw the Fed reinforcing their positive outlook over both the economy and inflation while unanimously voting to keep rates unchanged,” Jingyi Pan, a market strategist at IG in Singapore, said in a daily commentary.

FED RATE: The Fed kept its key rate in a still-low range of 1.25 per cent to 1.5 per cent and said in a statement that it expects inflation to finally pick up this year, stabilizing around the Fed’s target level of 2 per cent. The Fed also indicated that it thinks the job market and the overall economy are continuing to improve.

WALL STREET: On Wednesday, U.S. stocks finished with marginal gains, ending a two-day losing streak. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.1 per cent to 2,823.81. The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.3 per cent to 26,149.39. The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.1 per cent to 7,411.48. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 0.5 per cent, to 1,574.98.

OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 4 cents to $64.77 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 23 cents to settle at $64.73 per barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 5 cents to $68.94 per barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 109.36 yen from 109.20 yen. The euro strengthened to $1.2420 from $1.2411.