Asia-Pacific markets set to fall as investors weigh Fed decision, Middle East conflict

Asia-Pacific markets were set to fall Thursday, as investors weighed the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates steady, while the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran continues to dent sentiment.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open lower, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,820 while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 38,650, against the index's Tuesday close of 38,885.15.

Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index last traded at 23,536, pointing to a weaker open compared with the HSI's last close of 23,710.69.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is slated to start the day slightly lower with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,525, compared with its last close of 8,531.2.

Investors are also awaiting Taiwan and Philippines' central bank decisions later in the day.

The U.S. Federal Reserve expectedly held interest rates steady on Wednesday, leaving its benchmark rate unchanged at 4.25%-4.5%, where it has stood since December. Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled that the Fed committee will wait to see the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs on inflation before considering any adjustments to monetary policies.

However, the Fed still pointed to two rate cuts later this year.

Overnight on Wall Street, the three major averages ended the trading day mixed. The 30-stock Dow lost 44.14 points, or 0.10%, and ended at 42,171.66. The S&P 500 slipped 0.03% to close at 5,980.87, and the Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.13% to settle at 19,546.27.