CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve turned more dovish than expected and indicated it no longer expects to raise rates this year.
The upside, however, remained capped by Brexit-related uncertainty and renewed worries about U.S.-China trade talks.
U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that Washington might leave tariffs on Chinese goods for a 'substantial period' to ensure Beijing's compliance with any trade deal.
Chinese shares ended higher and the yuan hit its highest level since July as the Fed abandoned projections for any interest rate hikes this year, citing signs of an economic slowdown.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite index inched up 10.81 points or 0.35 percent to 3,101.46 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.85 percent to close at 29,071.56.
The Japanese market was closed for the Vernal Equinox holiday.
Australian markets finished little changed with a positive bias as global growth worries offset a boost from a dovish Federal Reserve. Banks ended on a mixed note after Morgan Stanley's earnings-recession call for the non-resource sectors.
Building materials supplier Boral lost 2.5 percent after Wagners Cement suspended its supply of cement products to the company for six months.
Mining stocks rebounded from losses in the previous session, with BHP and Rio Tinto climbing more than 1 percent. Smaller rival Fortescue Metals Group jumped 2.4 percent.
Energy stocks finished flat to slightly higher, supported by a rise in oil prices as U.S. government data showed tightening domestic oil supplies.
Education provider Navitas entered a trading halt pending an announcement related to it's A$2.09 billion buyout offer by founder Rod Jones and private equity firm BGH.
In economic news, the unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.9 percent in February, beneath expectations for 5.0 percent, which would have been unchanged from the January reading.
The economy added 4,600 jobs in February, shy of forecasts for the addition of 15,000 jobs following the gain of 38,300 jobs in the previous month.
Seoul stocks inched higher to snap a two-day losing streak as foreign investors lapped up large-cap tech shares buoyed by the Fed's dovish stance. The benchmark Kospi rose 7.78 points or 0.36 percent to 2,184.88.
Samsung Electronics jumped 4.1 percent and SK Hynix soared 7.7 percent after U.S. memory-chip maker Micron Technology beat Wall Street's targets for its fiscal second quarter.
Samsung SDI rallied 4.8 percent and LG Chem advanced 5.2 percent on news they are focusing investment on EV batteries.
New Zealand shares eked out modest gains, with the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index ending up 25.61 points or 0.27 percent at 9,461.31 after a government report showed the country's GDP grew 0.6 percent sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2018, matching expectations after a 0.3 percent gain in the previous three months.
Consumer staple stocks paced the gainers, with heavyweight A2 Milk rising 0.7 percent while Synlait Milk rallied 2.8 percent.
Overnight, U.S. stocks ended a volatile session on a mixed note after the Fed left interest rates unchanged and indicated it no longer expects to raise rates this year, keeping in view a slowdown in growth from the solid rate seen in the fourth quarter of 2018.
While the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.1 percent to reach a fresh five-month closing high, the Dow dropped 0.6 percent and the S&P 500 eased 0.3 percent.
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