All the major Asian indices are trading on a mix note on Thursday as most awaited FOMC, RBNZ and BOJ statements released with no surprise.
The FOMC kept interest rates on hold but toned down language around the risks of global economic and financial conditions, paving the way for a second rate hike as soon as June. On the other side, RBNZ also left interest rates on hold after cutting the OCR to a record-low 2.25% just last month.
Today during Asian hours BOJ stands pat but announced a new measure designed to stimulate lending activity in areas hit by the recent Kumamoto earthquakes. BOJ left monetary policy unchanged, with the policy rate remaining at -0.1% and asset purchases under the bank's quantitative easing program on hold at ¥80 trillion per year.
On the other side, Gold refrains to break key resistance at $1252 and currently trading around $1246 marks.
The Nikkei 225 index was trading 2.46% lower to 16,865.02 points in Tokyo on Thursday, while the broader Topix gauge jumped 1.13% to 1,399.91 points.
Chinese markets opened on a positive note, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index trading 0.40% higher at 21,447.91 points and the Shanghai Composite index trading little higher at 2,954.33 points.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was trading 0.80% higher at 5,228.70 points in Sydney on Thursday.
New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 index traded 0.26% higher at 6,768.16 points in Wellington on Thursday afternoon.
Indian markets are trading almost flat as NSE nifty was trading at 0.09% higher at 7,987 points while BSE Sensex was trading at 0.03% higher at 26,070 points.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com