The Fed's failure to lower interest rates as the market expected caused Treasury yields and global equity indices to fall sharply。But the Federal Reserve said it would not lower interest rates until inflation "continues to move toward its 2 percent target."。

In a policy statement, the Fed took the important step of balancing inflation concerns with other risks to the U.S. economy and removing long-standing references that could further raise borrowing costs.。

At a news conference, Fed Chairman Colin Powell said the March rate cut was not a "base case" for the U.S. central bank, which led the dollar higher against the euro and other major currencies, less than the dovish stance expected by many investors.。

Michael Aroni, chief investment strategist, says the Fed's primary goal is to strengthen its credibility against inflation。He said: "This is a warning to the market that the possibility of all these rate cuts should not be expected too soon.。"

With no hint of a rate cut, bets on a March rate cut in the futures market fell from nearly 90 percent at the end of 2023 to 33 percent..5%, while the likelihood of a rate cut at the Fed's May meeting increased to nearly 90%。

On the news, the MSCI Global Equity Index fell 0.92%, while Wall Street stocks fell sharply, mainly due to poor results from Google's parent company Alphabet.。

Losses in technology stocks and other large sectors dragged Nasdaq down 2.23%, the S & P 500 slipped 1.61%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.82%。

In Europe, buoyed by Spanish and Italian market performance and corporate earnings updates, European stocks rose slightly, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index closing up 0.01%。

With the dollar index up about 2 percent this month, its gains against a basket of major currencies were the biggest since last September.。The dollar fell against the euro and yen earlier and later rose to zero..15%。

U.S. Treasury yields fell to nearly three-week lows, with 10-year yields seeing their biggest one-day drop since December。German 10-year government bond yields, the euro zone's benchmark, fell 9.7 BPS to 2.177%。

Market dynamics mostly quiet ahead of Fed decision。Before that, China's blue chip index fell 0.9%, a survey shows that China's factory activity contracted for the fourth consecutive month in January。

Asia-Pacific Composite Stock Index Excluding Japan Falls 0.4 per cent, which brought the index down to 5 per cent, ending a two-month rally.。In Japan, however, the Nikkei rose more than 8 percent, its highest January performance since 1998.。

Oil prices closed lower, dragged down by weak economic activity in China, the world's largest importer of crude, and an unexpected rise in U.S. crude inventories as U.S. producers increased production earlier this month.。

Brent crude for March delivery closes at 81 per barrel.71 dollars, down 1.16美元。U.S. West Texas Intermediate Oil Futures Down 1.$97 to $75 per barrel.85美元。U.S. gold futures close at 2067 per ounce.$40, up 0.8%。