Asian stocks outside Australia drop post-Fed, BOJ eyed

The stocks on the Asian bourses pares early gains and fell in the negative territory on Thursday, taking cues from a mixed closed on the Wall Street overnight after sentiment was hit on a lack of clear Sept/ Dec rate hike outlook provided by the Fed in its FOMC statement.

The Japanese stocks felt the heat of a relatively stronger yen, while the Chinese equities were hit by the reports of persistent asset bubbles in the property, securities and commodities markets, as noted by the China Press. While the Aussie stocks bucked the trend and kept moderate gains on the back of a solid performance seen in the commodities’ prices, which underpins the resource, mining and energy stocks.

Meanwhile, the Japanese benchmark index, the Nikkei 225 drops -0.90% to 16,520, on the back of a weaker USD/JPY, down -0.28% on the day. The Australian markets hold gains, with the S&P/ASX 200 now trading +0.34 higher around 5,560 points.

The Chinese equities remain under pressure, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index down -0.26%; the CSI300 index also trades -0.26% lower. While Hong Kong markets drop -0.24% to 22,166 levels.