CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday as the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy statement cooled investor expectations for a rate cut and investors watched ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and China.
Markets in mainland and China were closed for holidays. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.83 percent to finish at 29,944.18.
Australian markets ended notably lower after disappointing earnings updates from AMP and National Australia Bank.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 37.50 points or 0.59 percent to 6,338.40 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended down 36.50 points or 0.56 percent at 6,430.
Lender NAB edged down 0.3 percent as it slashed dividends in a bid to shore up its balance sheet. Struggling Wealth manager AMP declined 2.6 percent after it reported a near nine-fold increase in first-quarter cash outflows at its wealth management unit.
Supermarket giant Woolworths gained 0.8 percent after lifting its third-quarter grocery sales by 4.2 percent. Wesfarmers shed 0.4 percent after it launched a $776 million takeover bid for Australian lithium miner Kidman Resources.
Santos and Oil Search fell over 1 percent after crude oil prices slipped overnight. A drop in base metal prices pulled down miners, with BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group all ending down over 1 percent.
South Korea's Kospi average rose 0.42 percent to 2,212.75. The manufacturing sector in South Korea moved back into expansion territory in April, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.2, up from 48.8 in March.
Individually, there was weaker demand from domestic and external markets, while production levels stabilized as firms allowed their stocks to run down.
New Zealand shares posted strong gains after Z Energy forecast a $22 million benefit from its efficiency initiatives in the current year and signaled at least a 12 per cent increase in dividends in the first result of the domestic earnings season. The benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index jumped 119.33 points or 1.20 percent to 10,085.75.
Investors shrugged off a government report showing that the total number of building permits issued in New Zealand fell a seasonally adjusted 6.9 percent month-on-month in March.
Malaysia's KLSE Composite was down 0.6 percent and Indonesia's Jakarta Composite was losing 1.4 percent as investors digested the latest Nikkei manufacturing data. The Taiwan Weighted rose 0.34 percent, shrugging off weak manufacturing data.
Overnight, U.S. stocks closed lower after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell dashed traders' hopes for a near-term interest rate cut, saying 'transitory factors' may have contributed to recent low inflation readings.
Mixed readings on private sector employment and manufacturing activity also weighed on markets.
The Dow and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell around 0.6 percent while the S&P 500 dropped 0.8 percent.
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