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Asian Shares Mixed As Investors Digest Fed Minutes

StockMarkets 112514 23Feb17

Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Thursday as European political risks remained in focus and the minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting indicated a rate hike would be on the table at the Fed's next meeting in March, should jobs and inflation data come in line with expectations.

Chinese stocks fell, with realty and construction-related stocks leading declines, after reports emerged that China's financial regulators are working on new rules to rein in asset management risks. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index dropped 9.84 points or 0.30 percent to 3,251.38 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 87 points or 0.36 percent at 24,114 in late trade.

Japanese shares ended marginally lower, pressured by a firmer yen and a broad-based selloff in the financial sector, with banks Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial losing 1-2 percent. The Nikkei average closed down 8.41 points or 0.04 percent at 19,371.46 while the broader Topix index slipped 0.05 percent to finish at 1,556.25.

Toshiba shares tumbled 4.7 percent after climbing as much as much as 22 percent the previous day on a Nikkei report that the company has asked potential bidders for its memory chip business to peg the operations' value at 2 trillion yen or more. Nissan Motor shed 0.6 percent on news that Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn will step down as president and CEO of the company.

South Korea's Kospi average closed marginally higher at 2,107.63 after the Bank of Korea kept interest rates unchanged for an eighth straight month, awaiting clarity on global policy changes and a political scandal at home that has engulfed President Park Geun-hye as well as the heir to the Samsung Group.

Australian shares fell as lower commodity prices sent mining stocks sharply lower and private capital expenditure figures disappointed investors. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index slid 20.40 points or 0.35 percent to 5,784.70, while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 17.60 points or 0.30 percent lower at 5,832.50.

A fall in copper and iron ore prices weighed on the mining sector, with BHP Billiton losing as much as 2.7 percent to extend Wednesday's losses. Rio Tinto plummeted 5.5 percent on going ex-dividend while Fortescue Metals Group lost 2.6 percent and South32 declined 3.9 percent.

Southern Cross Media tumbled 5.7 percent while Nine Entertainment climbed 7.3 percent after releasing their first-half results. Ardent Leisure shares plummeted 21.8 percent as the operator of the Gold Coast's Dreamworld theme park cut its interim dividend after reporting a loss of $49 million in the first half of the financial year.

Casino giant Crown Resorts soared 7.9 percent after announcing a share buyback. Qantas Airways rallied 5.4 percent despite the flag carrier reporting a slide in first-half profit.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index dropped 27.04 points or 0.38 percent to 7,089.52, with Metro Performance Glass and Hallenstein Glasson falling over 2 percent.

Sky Network Television plunged 13 percent after reports that the NZ competition regulator has rejected its proposed merger with Vodafone's New Zealand unit. Air New Zealand rallied 4.7 percent after the airline said it expects the fierce competition to moderate.

India's Sensex was up half a percent to extend gains for a sixth consecutive session. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index was moving up 0.1 percent and Singapore's Straits Times index was rising 0.2 percent while Malaysia's KLSE Composite was declining 0.3 percent and the Taiwan Weighted slipped 0.1 percent.

Overnight, U.S. stocks ended mixed as oil prices pulled back on concerns about high U.S. stockpiles and the Fed minutes showed officials expect to raise short-term interest rates "fairly soon". The Dow rose 0.2 percent to notch its ninth consecutive record close, while the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 slid about 0.1 percent each.

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Major central banks, led by the U.S. Fed, dominated the economics scene this week with some delivering histroic shifts. In the U.S., the Fed was in focus as Chair Jerome Powell announced the latest policy decision and forward guidance. In Asia, all eyes were on the Bank of Japan as markets waited to see if the central bank would exit its ultra loose monetary policy. Find out how the Swiss central bank gave a surprise in Europe and learn what is the path ahead for U.K. interest rates.

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