Asia shares mixed after Fed decision

HONG KONG–Asian markets were mixed Thursday while the dollar resumed its upward march against the yen after the Federal Reserve wound up its vast bond-buying scheme and reiterated its plan to keep interest rates at record lows.

Tokyo rose 0.67 percent, or 104.29 points, to 15,658.20 and Sydney added 0.52 percent, or 28.52 points, to 5,476.2, while Shanghai finished 0.76 percent, or 18.07 points, higher at 2,391.08.

But Seoul eased 0.11 percent, or 2.24 points, lower at 1,958.93 and Hong Kong gave up 0.49 percent, or 117.83 points, to 23,702.04.

After a two-day meeting the US central bank’s policy committee said it would bring an end to six years of monetary easing as the economy gets back on track.

And to reassure investors worried about the global economy, it also said it would keep near-zero interest rates for “a considerable time” after the end of the quantitative easing program, sticking to its timetable of an increase well into 2015.

However, while the decision was widely expected, its optimistic comments on the state of the jobs market were considered by analysts to be more hawkish than in the past, fuelling speculation of a possible earlier rate hike.

“The Fed is positioning itself, but it hasn’t taken the decision” to raise rates, said Gregori Volokhine, president of Meeschaert Capital Markets. “Its action still depends on how the economy performs.”

Surging dollar

Traders will be keeping a close eye on the Fed’s moves over the next few months, with fears that a hike too early could hurt overseas economies.

World markets took a beating earlier this month on fears about the global outlook, with China, Japan and the eurozone still struggling, despite the pick-up in the United States.

Wednesday’s announcement sent the dollar surging on expectations for higher interest rates down the line, while the end of Fed bond-buying means there will be less cash swirling around the economy.

It was at 109.26 yen Thursday in Japan, against 108.90 yen in New York and sharply up from 108.12 yen in Tokyo earlier Wednesday.

The euro bought $1.2568, compared with $1.2634 in US trade and well down from Wednesday’s $1.2737 in Asia. The single currency was at 137.32 yen compared with 137.60 yen.

The greenback also surged against the Australian dollar. In afternoon trade the Aussie bought 87.65 US cents, compared with 88.66 cents on Wednesday.

On Wall Street the three main indexes ended lower after clocking up a string of healthy gains over the past week and a half.

The Dow slipped 0.19 percent, the S&P 500 fell 0.14 percent and the Nasdaq dropped 0.33 percent.

In oil trade US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for December delivery eased 64 cents to $81.56 while Brent crude fell 71 cents to $86.41 in afternoon trade.

Gold was at $1,205.80 an ounce, against $1,227.70 late Wednesday.

In other markets:

— Bangkok closed up 0.17 percent, or 2.68 points, to 1,565.35.

Department store operator Central Pattana added 2.69 percent to 47.75 baht, while oil company PTT Exploration and Production rose 2.09 percent to 146.50 baht.

— Taipei fell 0.18 percent, or 15.61 points, to 8,888.07.

Hon Hai rose 0.21 percent to Tw$95.2 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. slipped 0.39 percent to Tw$128.5.

— Wellington rose 0.27 percent, or 14.31 points, to 5,370.18.

Fletcher Building was up 0.36 percent at NZ$8.48 and telecom giant Spark was steady at NZ$3.115.

— Manila ended up 1.10 percent, or 77.68 points, at 7,170.99.

Ayala Land rose 1.53 percent to 33.20 pesos while Banco de Oro gained 0.10 percent to 96.10 pesos but Philippine Long Distance Telephone fell 1.33 percent to 3,116 pesos.

— Mumbai surged 0.92 percent, or 248.16 points, to end at 27,346.33. It had hit a new high of 27,390.60 points during the session.

Reliance Industries rose 2.94 percent to 979.30 rupees, while Sesa Sterlite fell 1.12 percent to 252.70 rupees.

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