Asia-Pacific stocks edge higher as Fed keeps rates steady; Softbank shares in Japan jump

  • Shares of Softbank Group in Japan jumped 2.31%. The Japanese conglomerate is selling about one-third of its stake in ride-hailing company Uber to cover losses on its investment in Chinese ride-hailing company Didi, two people familiar with the matter told CNBC.
  • The Federal Open Committee ended its two-day meeting by keeping interest rates in a target range between zero and 0.25%.
  • Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank is nowhere near considering a rate hike despite the optimism over the U.S. economy.

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific rose in Thursday morning trade, after the U.S. Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate near zero.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced 0.56% in early trade while the Topix index gained 0.43%.

Shares of Softbank Group in Japan jumped 2.31%. The Japanese conglomerate is selling about one-third of its stake in ride-hailing company Uber to cover losses on its investment in Chinese ride-hailing company Didi, two people familiar with the matter told CNBC.

Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.31% while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia climbed 0.29%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.25% higher.

Looking ahead, Hong Kong's markets will be monitored by investors for signs of a further rebound from the more than 8% rout the Hang Seng index experienced over two days early this week.

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Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 127.59 points to 34,930.93 while the S&P 500 was little changed at 4,400.64. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7% to 14,762.58.

The Federal Open Committee ended its two-day meeting by keeping interest rates in a target range between zero and 0.25%.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank is nowhere near considering a rate hike despite the optimism over the U.S. economy.

Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.256 after a recent drop from around 92.7.

The Japanese yen traded at 109.84 per dollar, weaker than levels below 109.8 seen earlier in the week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7377, above levels below $0.736 seen earlier this week.

Oil prices were little changed in the morning of Asia trading hours, with Brent crude futures largely flat at $74.73 per barrel. U.S. crude futures sat fractionally lower at $72.36 per barrel.

— CNBC's Jeff Cox contributed to this report.

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