Signals of the Federal Reserve suspending interest rate hikes have suppressed the upward momentum in Asian markets. Major Asia-Pacific stock markets fell, and the Singapore Straits Times index pulled back after three consecutive days of gains, down 0.17% or 6.53 points, closing at 3927.51 points.

The minutes of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee meeting released on Wednesday (February 19) local time showed that the interest rate target range remained between 4.25% and 4.5%, which means the Federal Reserve will suspend interest rate hikes.

Major markets in Asia-Pacific fell. Hong Kong saw the biggest drop, down 1.6%, Tokyo fell 1.24%, Sydney fell 1.12%, Seoul fell 0.65%, Taiwan fell 0.49%, and Shanghai fell 0.02%. Shenzhen rose slightly by 0.2%.

The local stock market traded 1.49 billion shares on Thursday, with a total transaction volume of 1.41 billion yuan. There were 205 rising stocks and 320 falling stocks.

In terms of the constituent stocks of the Sea Index, 11 rose, 14 fell, and five remained the same. The biggest increase was Yangzijiang Shipping Industry, which rose 3.13% to 3.3 yuan, followed by Jardine Holdings, which rose 1.57% to 41.49 US dollars. Haiting fell the biggest, down 1.96% to 2.5 yuan.