Asia shares mixed after Fed assurance on rates lifts Wall St

Asian shares were mixed Thursday after the Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate by three-quarters of a point and signaled more rate hikes were coming to fight inflation, the Associated Press reported.

Wall Street rallied Wednesday after the Fed’s hike, the biggest since 1994, as investors took heart from Chair Jerome Powell’s comments suggesting future rate increases may be more modest. The bigger than usual rate hike also had been anticipated for weeks and came as no surprise.

The Bank of Japan is holding a two-day policy meeting, starting Thursday. The Japanese central bank is under pressure to act given downward pressures on the yen from U.S. rate hikes and super-low rates in Japan.

Investors have been selling yen and buying dollars in anticipation of higher yields from dollar-denominated holdings. Japanese politicians and the central bank chief have expressed worries about the declining yen, but no dramatic policy changes are expected.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.5% in afternoon trading to 26,453.91. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost earlier gains, falling nearly 0.2% to 6,591.10. South Korea’s Kospi inched up almost 0.1% to 2,448.65. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.3% to 21,029.07, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.6% to 3,286.60.