Asia-Pacific stocks mostly higher; Fed keeps interest rates near zero

Investors watch Apple supplier shares

Investors watched shares of Apple suppliers in Asia-Pacific after the Cupertino, California-based tech giant reported yet another blowout quarter, with sales 54% surging from last year.

In South Korea, shares of LG Display dropped 1.72% in morning trade. Over in Hong Kong, shares of AAC Tech edged 0.68% higher while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's stock in Taiwan gained 0.5%.

Fed keeps easy money policy

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday decided to leave short-term interest rates anchored near zero as it buys at least $120 billion of bonds each month.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the recovery is "uneven and far from complete." He added that it's still not time to discuss reducing policy accommodation, including asset purchases.

Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.475 after a drop earlier in the week from above 90.9.

The Japanese yen traded at 108.44 per dollar, as compared with levels above 108.6 against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7808 following its climb yesterday from below $0.776.

Oil prices rose in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.4% to $67.54 per barrel. U.S. crude futures climbed 0.42% to $64.13 per barrel.

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