Asia-Pacific markets rose, led by Hong Kong after the U.S. Federal Reserve held off on a rate hike while projecting that another two quarter percentage point moves are on the way before the end of the year.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 ended its four-session win streak, pulling back 16.93 points, or 0.1%, to 32,485.49.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng popped 420.5 points, or 2.2%, to 19,828.02, powered by health care, consumer cyclicals and tech stocks.
Australian markets made some headway, as the country saw unemployment fall slightly to 3.6% in May, compared to the 3.7% expected by economists polled by Reuters.
New Zealand fell into a technical recession after its first-quarter gross domestic product fell 0.1% year on year, after reporting a revised 0.7% decline in the final quarter of 2022.
CHINA
In China, the CSI 300 index recovered 61.48 points, or 1.6%, to 3,925.50.
China’s central bank lowered its key medium-term lending rates on Thursday. The country also released a slew of economic data, including industrial output, retail sales and house prices.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi Index dipped 10.54 points, or 0.4%, to 2,608.54.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index gained 96.84 points, or 0.6%, to 17,334.98.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index added 24.71 points, or 0.8%, to 3,242.85.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 8.83 points, or 0.1%, to 11,687.45.
In Australia, ASX 200 grabbed 13.58 points, or 0.2%, to 7,175.33.