TOKYO - Asia stocks fell and the dollar advanced on Thursday after the Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates low for a long time but stopped short of offering further on stimulus to shore up a battered US economy.
Tech shares fared worse, with the Nasdaq Composite dropping 1.25 per cent on Wednesday. Nasdaq futures dropped 1.13 per cent in Asia. "Of course, sensible people wouldn't really hold anyone to macro forecasts that far out so we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," said Derek Holt, head of capital markets economics at Scotiabank in Toronto.
"By and large the Fed delivered the minimum of what had been expected by markets with a key focus on the implications of a move to 'flexible' inflation targeting," said Stephen Miller, investment strategist at GSFM in Sydney. The yen moved little at 105.06 to the dollar ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy announcement later in the day, though no major policy change is expected.