Asia-Pacific markets were mixed after minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Oct. 31 meeting revealed that policy officials maintained that monetary policy had to be restrictive and had little appetite for rate cuts.
“In discussing the policy outlook, participants continued to judge that it was critical that the stance of monetary policy be kept sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to the Committee’s 2 percent objective over time,” the minutes said. The federal funds rate currently stands at 5.25%-5.5%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.55%, while the Topix added 0.66%.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.62% and the Kosdaq shed 0.72%
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index opened 0.07% lower, while China’s CSI 300 index dropped 0.40%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was flat.
| TICKER | COMPANY | NAME | PRICE | CHANGE | %CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .N225 | Nikkei 225 Index | *NIKKEI | 33445.12 | 90.98 | 0.27 |
| .HSI | Hang Seng Index | *HSI | 17720.18 | -13.71 | -0.08 |
| .AXJO | S&P/ASX 200 | *ASX 200 | 7069.7 | -8.5 | -0.12 |
| .SSEC | Shanghai | *SHANGHAI | 3059.16 | -8.77 | -0.29 |
| .KS11 | KOSPI Index | *KOSPI | 2504.46 | -5.96 | -0.24 |
| .FTFCNBCA | CNBC 100 ASIA IDX | *CNBC 100 | 8464.96 | -8.3 | -0.1 |
In the U.S., all three major indexes lost ground following the Fed announcement, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite snapping a string of five consecutive winning days.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.18%, while the S&P dipped 0.2%. The tech heavy Nasdaq fell 0.59%, a day after leading a tech fueled rally on Wall Street.
— CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Brian Evans contributed to this report.
