Asia report: Markets higher as Fed stands pat

Japan’s Nikkei 225 finished up 0.15% at 20,079.64, as the yen weakened against the dollar - it was last behind 0.12% at JPY 111.31.

On the corporate front in Tokyo, video gaming behemoth Nintendo was up 7.6%, after the company announced better-than-expected earnings on Wednesday.

Expectations were for operating profits of JPY 9.52bn, but the Switch console maker revealed a surprise figure of JPY 16.21bn.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was ahead 0.05% at 3,429.29, while the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite ended 1.24% higher at 1,865.96.

Fresh data from China’s statistics office suggested industrial firms in the People’s Republic saw profits improve 19.1% collectively year-on-year.

South Korea’s Kospi was 0.36% firmer at 2,443.24, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong ended up 0.71% at 27,131.17.

Seoul tech giant Samsung Electronics revealed record company profits of KRW 14.1trn, representing a 73% year-on-year improvement and broadly in line with its own KRW 14trn guidance.

Shares in Samsung still finished 0.08% lower.

Investors spent the early parts of the session digesting the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates on hold after the Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day policy meeting, which was widely expected.

The Fed did make a slight adjustment to its rhetoric on the unwinding of its mammoth balance sheet, saying it would begin the process “relatively soon”, rather than “this year” as it stated in June.

“The failure to surprise significantly on the hawkish front by the FOMC may continue to engender broad dollar vulnerability going ahead,” noted OCBC currency strategist Emmanuel Ng.

Oil prices were slightly lower during Asian trading, after surging on Wednesday thanks to a bigger-than-expected fall in US crude inventories, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Brent crude was last down 0.59% at $50.67 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate lost 0.7% to $48.41.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.15% higher at 5,785.01, while New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 eked out gains of 0.02% to 7,711.72.

Both of the down under dollars were stronger on the greenback, with the Aussie last ahead 0.15% at AUD 1.2473 and the Kiwi advancing 0.22% to NZD 1.3272.