Australia

Australian shares are set to open lower, after US stocks closed in the red following initial gains on the Federal Reserve's 50 basis-point rate cut.

ASX futures were down 0.46% or 38 points as of 8:00am on Thursday, suggesting a lower open.

U.S. stocks finished lower after the Federal Reserve voted to cut interest rates by 0.5 percentage point, opting for a more aggressive reduction than investors had been expecting just a week ago.

The rate cut is "a welcome development" and should put the stock market on good footing going forward, said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment officer at BMO Wealth Management.

Unlike previous years when the Fed has cut rates, "the primary problem in the economy is actually short-term interest rates being too high, so by the Fed cutting rates, it's actually directly solving the problem," he added.

The S&P 500, the Dow and the Nasdaq Composite rose after the Fed's announcement, then pared those gains and turned negative. As of the close, the Dow dropped almost 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index and S&P 500 retreated 0.3%.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 0.1% to US$73.65 a barrel, while gold was flat at US$2,559.22.

The Australian dollar was at 67.60 US cents, down from its previous close of 67.62.

Asia

Chinese shares closed mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5% to 2,717.28, and the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.2% to 1,473.73.

Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 1.4% to 17,660.02.

Japanese shares closed higher. The Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.5% to 36,380.17.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX slipped 0.2% to 82,948.23.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index fell 0.7% to 8,253.68.

In Europe, shares closed lower. Germany's DAX lost 0.2% to 18,711.49, and France's CAC 40 fell 0.6% to 7,444.90.

North America

U.S. stocks ended lower. The DJIA slipped 0.2% to 41,503.10, the S&P 500 lost 0.3% to 5,618.26, and the Nasdaq fell 0.3% to 17,573.30.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were West Pharmaceutical Services Inc, surging 4.5%, Dollar Tree Inc jumped 2.98%, and Monster Beverage Corp lifted 2.57%.

The biggest decliners were ResMed Inc which dropped 5.12%, Avery Dennison Corp fell 4.92%, and Sysco Corp lost 4.17%.