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· Asian stocks rose on Thursday to the highest in a month after the Federal Reserve signalled rate settings were likely to remain accommodative, but the imminent UK election and a deadline for Sino-U.S. trade talks kept investors cautious.

The Fed kept interest rates unchanged, as expected, at its policy meeting on Wednesday but indicated interest rates would remain on hold, which nudged Wall Street stocks higher.

That helped MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS climb 0.98% to the highest since Nov. 11. Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 rose 0.22% and U.S. stock futures ESc1 edged up 0.1%. Australian shares were down 0.65%, however, weighed by the financial sector after a money-laundering scandal.

· Japanese shares were mostly flat on Thursday ahead of a deadline on a new round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports due this weekend while semiconductor firms tracked gains in their counterparts on Wall Street.

The Nikkei share average ended 0.14% higher at 23,424.81. The benchmark index has been in a holding pattern since early November, hovering below 23,600 increasingly seen as a major resistance.

The broader Topix shed 0.12% to 1,712.83, dented by a fall of 0.5% in small-cap shares.

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to meet with top trade advisers on Thursday to discuss the planned Dec. 15 tariffs on some $160 billion in Chinese goods, three sources familiar with the plans said.

Although the market has been underpinned by some hopes of a Sino-U.S. trade deal, investors worry that negotiations could fall apart if the tariffs kick in this weekend.

· Shanghai stocks snapped a five-session rally to end lower on Thursday, as investors remained wary ahead of Washington’s decision to proceed with new tariffs on Chinese goods this weekend.

The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.3% to close at 3,891.02, while the Shanghai Composite Index also shed 0.3% to 2,915.70.

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to meet with top trade advisers on Thursday to discuss planned Dec. 15 tariffs on some $160 billion in Chinese goods, three sources familiar with the plans said, as markets braced for potential negative impacts.

A decision to move ahead with the tariffs could roil financial markets and scuttle U.S.-China talks to end the 17-month-long trade war between the world’s two largest economies for the remainder of Trump’s term.

There was muted reaction in the A-share market, after the U.S. Fed kept interest rates unchanged as expected, at its policy meeting on Wednesday but indicated interest rates would remain on hold.