Asia: Stocks higher following US Fed statement

Asian stocks on Thursday rose following comments from the US Federal Reserve that it will be “patient” to tighten monetary policy.

Japanese Nikkei 225 index was higher by 2.32%, driven by the speech from Fed chair Janet Yellen, who said she doesn’t see the Fed raising rates for “at least the next couple of meetings”.

The biggest mover in the Japanese stock market was Sony, which cancelled the release of “The Interview” after threats of violence by hackers. Its shares were up 3.40% on Thursday following the decision of not broadcasting the comedy movie about a plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

News that the Chinese Ministry of Public Security is preparing to launch an offensive against financial crime and money laundering in casinos in Macau continued to positively impact Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, rising 1.09% on Thursday.

The Shanghai index was lower at 0.11% after Chinese data released a decline in house prices to -3,7% in November from -2,6 the month before. This was the third consecutive month of contraction in the sector.

Also on Thursday, the Central Bank of Republic of China (Taiwan) kept its policy rate unchanged at 1.875% at its December quarterly board meeting, which was in line with forecasts.

Barclays analysts said the recent growth deceleration and the inflationary backdrop made them push back their rate hike call, but they “continue to expect the tourism boom and lower oil prices to be supportive for services employment and domestic demand in 2015”.