Asia shares rise as FED holds on interest rates

A woman looks at an electronic stock board at a securities firm in Tokyo (AP)

Asian stocks edged higher on Thursday as the US Federal Reserve appeared to be in no hurry to raise interest rates, while oil consolidated gains after hitting a 2016 peak.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.4pc. Hong Kong stocks rose more than 1pc, while S&P 500 e-mini futures edged up 0.1pc, after Wall Street posted solid gains overnight.