Investing.com – Asian equities were mixed in morning trade on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged as expected.
Overnight, the S&P 500 slid 0.7%, while the Dow closed 0.7% lower and the NASDAQ Composite lost 0.4%.
The Fed acknowledged inflation is close to its target and has not hinted any intention to change their gradual tightening of monetary policy.
“Inflation on a 12-month basis is expected to run near the committee’s symmetric 2 percent objective over the medium term,” the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement Wednesday. “The committee expects that economic conditions will evolve in a manner that will warrant further gradual increases in the federal funds rate.”
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component were 0.4% and 0.6% lower by 9:36PM ET (01:36 GMT).
Reports that a senior government official said “China would not succumb to threat from the U.S.” garnered some attention as U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He are scheduled to kick off trade talks later in the day, although any significant breakthrough seemed unlikely.
The Chinese official said the government would not accept any U.S. preconditions for negotiations such as giving up its long-term advanced manufacturing ambitions or narrowing the trade gap.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index underperformed its regional peers and opened 1.7% lower. Electronic and software company Xiaomi made headlines as it filed for IPO in Hong Kong and has become the first major company to use the city’s new rules for going public.
Reports who cited people familiar with the matter expected the offering to be at least $10 billion, which would in turn value the company to be at least $100 billion.
Elsewhere, South Korea's KOSPI was unchanged at 2505.9 while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.8%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is closed for a holiday.