Asian markets experienced fluctuations following a mixed close on Wall Street, as the Federal Reserve postponed rate cuts.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo initially dropped, then modestly rose by 0.1% to 38,299.71.
The Japanese yen strengthened significantly, up to 2% in early trading in Asia, fueled by expectations of another intervention by Japanese authorities to buy yen. However, the yen later relinquished its gains, with the dollar rising to 156.04 yen from an earlier 154.91 yen.
In South Korea, the Kospi index slightly declined by 0.1% to 2,688.80, following the release of consumer price data for April, which showed a year-on-year increase of 2.9%, slowing from March’s figures.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 2.3% to 18,178.43, while markets in China were closed for the Labor Day holiday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index grew by 0.5% to 7,603.80.
In the U.S., the S&P 500 dropped by 0.3% to 5,018.39 after the Federal Reserve kept its primary interest rate at its highest since 2001, aligning with market expectations. The index initially surged 1.2% in the afternoon but later reversed these gains by the close of trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.2% to 37,903.29, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell by 0.3% to 15,605.48.
