Asian markets close mixed, STI dips 0.1%

MOST Asian markets fell on Thursday as investors digested comments from the US Federal Reserve, which said the US economy was strong enough to warrant yet another rate hike by year-end.

Following the Fed meeting, Wall Street's three main indexes fell, and the greenback edged up on the prospect of higher rates through the year.

In a statement that seemed to mark the end of an era of an "accommodative" monetary policy, policy-makers increased the Fed funds rate by 25 basis points as widely expected, taking the rate to a range of 2 to 2.25 per cent.