Investing.com - Asian shares gained on Thursday as investors cheered a cautious Fed statement and regional data aided sentiment.
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.92%, while the Shanghai Composite was up 0.56% and the S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.24%.
In Australia jobs data showed a gain of 3,000 jobs in February, less than the 10,000 seen, under a participation rate of 64.9%, less than the 65.2%, and an unemployment rate of 5.8%, below the 6.0% expected.
In Japan, the adjusted trade balance for February came in at a surplus of ¥170 billion, narrower than the ¥240 billion seen. Exports fell 4.0% year-on-year, more than the 3.1% drop seen, and imports slumped 14.2%, a bit less than the 15.2% expected.
Earlier, New Zealand said fourth quarter GDP rose 0.9% quarter-on-quarter, beating the 0.6% gain expected.
The Federal Reserve lowered expectations for rate hikes this year bringing their forecast more in line with market expectations as they held off on raising their policy rate at the latest Federal Open Market meeting on Wednesday.
As expected the Federal Open Market Committee left rates unchanged at the 0.25% to 0.50% range at the end of their two-day meeting, but made a few changes to the post-meeting statement and downgrades to their accompanying economic forecasts.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Oil & Gas and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.43% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.56%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.75%.