Asian Market Update : Epic Research Malaysia

Asian equities firmed on Thursday and the dollar was on the defensive after the Federal Reserve indicated that interest rates would rise more slowly than markets had expected.

After a closely-watched two-day meeting, the Fed said the economy was likely strong enough to support an interest rate increase by the end of the year. But it lowered its forecasts for 2015 economic growth because of a weak start to the year and reduced its federal funds rate forecast.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS climbed about 0.2 percent, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 skidded 0.8 percent to a one-week low as the yen gained against the dollar.

"The market is rather concerned about the U.S. economic view in the future," said Masaru Hamasaki, head of the market and investment information department at Amundi Japan.

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