Asian Stocks close: most stocks fell ahead of the Fed’s interest decision

Most Asian stock declined ahead of the Fed’s interest decision today. Market participants expect the Fed will cut its asset purchase program by another $10 billion, but the Fed will keep its interest rate unchanged until 2015.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) released its May monetary policy meeting minutes. The BoJ said the country's economy is expected to continue its moderate recovery and the current monetary easing appears to be having the intended results.

The BoJ reported that the political unrest in Thailand could impact Japan's exports.

Japan's merchandise trade deficit reached Y909 billion in May, after a deficit of Y811.7 billion in April. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to Y1,189.3 billion.

Japan’s exports declined 2.7% year-on-year in May. That was the first decline in 15 months. Imports dropped at annual rate by 3.6%.

Indexes on the close:

Nikkei 225                         15,115.80                  +139.83             +0.93%

Hang Seng                         23,181.72                    -21.87              -0.09%

Shanghai Composite          2,055.52                    -11.18              -0.54%

Nikon Corp. shares declined 2.6% after JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its rating.