Asian Stocks Vary as Wall Street Slides After Fed Rate Hike

Asian stock markets experienced mixed results on Thursday following Wall Street's decline after the Federal Reserve announced its first interest rate hike in three years. The quarter percentage point increase brings the Fed's key rate to a target range of 3.75%-4.00% as it attempts to control U.S. inflation above its target.

The Nikkei 225 index gained 0.3% at 64,136.25 in Japan, while South Korea's Kospi edged down less than 0.1% to 6,715.41. The Hong Kong Hang Seng fell 0.6% to 24,569.40 and the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.4% to 3,875.60.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.4% to 8,732.40, with Taiwan's Taiex jumping 1%. India's Sensex edged up 0.3%, but the ongoing Iran war is likely to keep pressure on inflation, according to Lorraine Tan, director of equity research for Asia at Morningstar.