Asia-Pacific markets fell on Thursday, as investors weighed the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates steady, while the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran continued to weigh on sentiment.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.74% while the Topix dropped 0.61%.
South Korea's Kospi fell 0.34% and the small-cap Kosdaq was flat.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was flat.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.48% and mainland China's CSI 300 was flat.
Investors also await decisions by the central banks of Taiwan and the Philippines later in the day.
U.S. President Donald Trump will gather his national security advisers in the White House Situation Room for the second time in two days, as he considers a potential military strike on Iran amid its conflict with Israel. The meeting began shortly before 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, a White House official told NBC News.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, leaving its benchmark rate unchanged at 4.25%-4.5%, where it has been since December. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has signaled that the Fed committee will wait to see the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs on inflation before considering any adjustments to monetary policy.
However, the Fed is still pointing to two rate cuts later this year.
Overnight on Wall Street, the three major indexes ended the trading day mixed. The 30-stock Dow fell 44.14 points, or 0.10%, to end at 42,171.66. The S&P 500 fell 0.03% to close at 5,980.87, while the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.13% to close at 19,546.27. (alg)
Source: CNBC
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