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Shares in Asia 'confused' after US Fed comments Asian markets mixed after Fed comments
(about 5 hours later)
Shares in Asia were looking for direction on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates unchanged.Shares in Asia were looking for direction on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates unchanged.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was up as much as 0.8% in early trade following a strong finish on Wall Street. Comments released by the Fed were seen as increasing the chances of a US rate rise in December.
By mid-morning, however, it was up just 0.28% at 18,956.86 points. Japan's Nikkei 225 was choppy for much of the day, eventually closing up 0.17% at 18,935.71.
"The markets are as confused about direction as the US Federal Reserve is confused about interest rates," economist David Kuo told the BBC. After disappointing profit numbers, shares in Nintendo fell as much as 10%, also weighing on the benchmark index.
"Last night's lack of clarity as to when US interest rates could rise just added more confusion into the mix," the chief executive of the Motley Fool Singapore added. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.17% at 22,917.20, while the Shanghai Composite was up 0.71% at 3,399.08.
China's markets were also seeing some choppy trade, with the Shanghai Composite up 0.05% at 3,376.88 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index down 0.15% at 22,919.82. "The markets are as confused about direction as the US Federal Reserve is confused about interest rates," economist David Kuo from Motley Fool Singapore told the BBC.
Elsewhere in Asia "Last night's lack of clarity as to when US interest rates could rise just added more confusion into the mix."
South Korea's benchmark Kospi index was up close to 0.9% in early trade, but lost ground later, up 0.49% at 2,052.32. Australia down
Shares in electronics giant Samsung were up more than 4% after the firm reported a rise in net profit of 28% for the three months to September. In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed down 1.28% at 5,266.90 after spending much of the day in negative territory.
Investors seemed little swayed by the firm's outlook for the following quarter. The country's biggest supermarket chain, Woolworths, disappointed investors as it forecast a fall of up to 35% in net profits for the six months to December - sending its Sydney-listed shares down almost 10%.
"In the fourth quarter, the company expects earnings to decline from the earlier quarter, as it does not expect the foreign exchange rate to have a positive effect," Samsung said in a statement. The company also announced a share buyback programme equivalent to $10bn.
In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.64% at 5,301.10.
Investor sentiment was down despite one of the country's biggest lenders, ANZ, posting a record annual cash profit of 7.2bn Australian dollars ($5.1bn; £3.34bn).Investor sentiment was down despite one of the country's biggest lenders, ANZ, posting a record annual cash profit of 7.2bn Australian dollars ($5.1bn; £3.34bn).
Investors will also be watching shares of National Australia Bank, which closed down 2.2% on Wednesday after the bank's cash earnings for the period missed expectations. Elsewhere, South Korea's benchmark Kospi index closed down 0.41% at 2,034.16.
Shares in electronics giant Samsung closed up more than 1% after the firm reported a rise in net profit of 28% for the three months to September.
"In the fourth quarter, the company expects earnings to decline from the earlier quarter, as it does not expect the foreign exchange rate to have a positive effect," Samsung said in a statement. The company also announced a share buyback programme equivalent to $10bn.