Asian markets close mostly in red on Thursday

Asian equity markets ended mostly in red on Thursday as investors waited to see what the Federal Reserve will do at next week's crucial meeting. Further, the People's Bank of China allowed the yuan to depreciate against the dollar for a fourth consecutive day, sparking fears of competitive devaluations across Asia. Chinese shares ended lower after the China Securities Regulatory Commission said it would push ahead with a long-awaited reform to let companies and investors have more say in new share offerings as early as May. Japanese shares fell sharply to hit five-week lows amid the sudden strength in the yen hit shares of exporters such as Fanuc and Honda Motor, though trading volume was low. Hong Kong shares weakened, driven by continued weakness in resource shares, as investors remained wary of falling commodity prices and ahead of a likely US interest rate rise next week.