In Asian Equity Markets indices were broadly lower in morning trade after the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at its latest policy meeting. The Shanghai composite shed 0.88 percent and the Shenzhen composite declined by 0.576 percent. Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 1.42 percent in early trade. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.72 percent while the Topix index saw losses of 0.2 percent after earlier seeing gains. South Korea’s Kospi was largely flat. In Australia, the ASX 200 was lower by 0.41 percent, with the major sectors in mixed territory.

In Currency Markets the US dollar gained against its major peers on Friday as the U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady but reaffirmed its monetary tightening stance, setting the stage for a rate hike in December. Meanwhile, the euro traded at $1.1366 on Friday, relatively unchanged in early Asian trade. The single currency fell 0.54 percent on Thursday as traders reacted to negative news out of Europe. The Australian dollar gained 0.1 percent to trade at $0.7262. The Aussie dollar has rallied 3.3 percent since it hit a more than a two-year low of $70.18 on Oct. 26.

In Commodities Markets oil markets on Friday remained weak as rising supply and concerns of an economic slowdown pressured prices, with U.S. crude now down by 20 percent since early October. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $61.63 per barrel, down 4 cents from their last settlement. Front-month Brent crude oil futures were at $70.79 a barrel, 14 cents above their last close However, both Brent and WTI have declined by around 20 percent from four-year highs in early October.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed slightly lower on Thursday after a Federal Reserve statement, and energy stocks were the biggest drag on the S&P as U.S. crude oil prices fell. The S&P 500 lost 0.25 percent, to 2,806.83 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.53 percent, to 7,530.89. The S&P bank index ended the day with a 0.4 percent gain as U.S. Treasury yields rose because bank profits benefit from rising rates. Energy stocks were the S&P’s biggest drag with a 2.2 percent decline.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields rose on Thursday with shorter-dated ones reaching their highest levels in over a decade as the Federal Reserve hinted the U.S. economic expansion remained on track, which warrants further interest rate increases. The two-year yield, which is most sensitive to traders’ view on Fed policy, finished close to 2.977 percent, the highest in 10-1/2 years after the Fed statement. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields rose 2 basis points to 3.234 percent. It was still below the 7-1/2 year high of 3.261 percent set a month ago during a bond market rout.