Investing.com - Asian shares fell on Thursday after the Fed used a hawkish bent overnight and as metals prices tumbled.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.45% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.39%, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.59%.
Markets in Japan were closed for the Greenery Day holiday.
Among Australian resources plays, Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) dropped 2.29% and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) fell 0.67% as base metals lost favor.
Tony Farnham, economic strategist at Patersons, said in a note Thursday morning, "most base metal prices were torched in Wednesday LME trading, with spot copper, nickel and zinc prices dropping by more than 3% on the day."
Also in Australia, trade data weighed slightly along with China Caixin PMI figures and as the market looked ahead to end of the week nonfarm payroll figures following a Fed review on rates that might be key to confirm a widely expected June hike.
Australia reported its trade balance for March at A$3.107 billion, a tad narrower than the A$3.4 billion surplus seen. China reported the Caixin services PMI for April dropepd to 51.6, compared with a 52.6 level expected, and the lowest in early a year.
The drop in copper prices came after a jump in inventories increased worries about an economic slowdown in China, the world's largest consumer of the metal.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Financials and Technology sectors led shares higher while losses in the Basic Materials, Telecoms and Utilities sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.04%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.13%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.37%.