Australia

Australian shares are set to open lower, after US stocks slipped on inflation concerns.

ASX futures were down 0.05% or 5 points as of 8:30am on Thursday, suggesting a lower open.

US stocks edged lower after the Federal Reserve, as widely expected, paused its recent stretch of interest-rate cuts and signaled it was in more of a wait-and-see mode for subsequent moves.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.3%, or 137 points. Government bond yields climbed after Fed officials indicated comfort with their interest-rate stance for an economy where inflation remains somewhat above their goal and where labor market conditions have been solid.

Traders remain concerned that inflation will persist above the Fed's 2% target and that Treasury bond yields will keep rising without a cut in interest rates.

"We're back in inverse correlation-when bond yields go up, stock prices go down," said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab. The firm is projecting the 10-year Treasury yield will rise to 5% or higher this year, a move that will increase borrowing costs and hamper growth for midsized companies.

After the closing bell, investors are also parsing results from Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Tesla and others. Investor scrutiny is likely to be even sharper than usual, given the questions swirling about artificial intelligence prompted by the rise of China's DeepSeek.

AI bulls had something to cheer about in Europe as ASML, the Dutch supplier of chip-making equipment, said orders had outstripped expectations in the final quarter of 2024.

US indexes closed lower after the Fed decision, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both down 0.5%.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 0.84% to US$76.84 a barrel, while gold was down 0.23% to US$2,757.04.

The Australian dollar was at 62.25 US cents, down from its previous close of 62.50.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.1% to 3,250.6, and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 1.3% to 1,911.09.

Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 0.1% to 20,225.11.

Japanese shares closed higher. The Nikkei Stock Average lifted 1% to 39,414.78.

India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX rose 0.8% to 76,532.96.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index rose 0.3% to 8,557.81.

In Europe, shares closed mixed. Germany's DAX rose 1% to 21,637.53, and France's CAC 40 declined 0.3% to 7,872.48.

North America

U.S. stocks ended lower. The DJIA fell 0.3% to 44,713.52, the S&P 500 slipped 0.5% to 6,039.31, and the Nasdaq dropped 0.5% to 19,632.32.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were F5 Inc FFIV surging 11.32%, Starbucks Corp SBUX jumped 8.22%, and T-Mobile US Inc TMUS lifted 6.31%.

The biggest decliners were Packaging Corp of America PKG which dropped 9.76%, Danaher Corp DHR fell 9.72%, and Moderna Inc MRNA lost 9.43%.