Asian equity markets ended mostly in green on Thursday after the US central bank said it wouldn’t raise interest rates as quickly as expected. Investors seemed to find relief in the more dovish tone of the US Federal Reserve’s statement overnight. The Fed held its benchmark rate at between 0.25% and 0.50% - reflecting a more cautious view of US economy, weaker global growth and financial market volatility - and said it expects just two rate increases this year, down from the four it originally forecast. China stocks rose more than 1 percent as bargain hunting in technology stocks offset weakness in financial shares. Meanwhile, Japanese shares bucked the regional uptrend to end slightly lower as the dollar briefly hit a three-week low against the yen.
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,904.83 | 34.40 | 1.20 |
| Hang Seng | 20,503.81 | 246.11 | 1.21 |
| Jakarta Composite | 4,885.69 | 24.25 | 0.50 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,703.19 | 9.76 | 0.58 |
| Nikkei 225 | 16,936.38 | -38.07 | -0.22 |
| Straits Times | 2,880.17 | 35.96 | 1.26 |
| KOSPI Composite | 1,987.99 | 13.09 | 0.66 |
| Taiwan Weighted | 8,734.54 | 35.40 | 0.41 |