This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

Hong Kong and Korea shares traded higher while Japan equity benchmarks were underperformers in Thursday trade.

Shares in Paytm tumbled the maximum 20% in Mumbai after India's financial authorities ordered the digital wallet services provider to stop taking in new deposits from March.

The Caixin China general manufacturing purchasing managers' index released Thursday showed factory activity in the world's second-largest economy expanded for a third-straight month in January — extending a divergence with official data released Wednesday that pointed to a fourth-monthly contraction.

Other private surveys of manufacturing activity in Asia, outside of China and Japan, though, showed that the worst of the manufacturing slowdown of 2023 could be over.

Late Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled it was unlikely to cut rates in March.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank would likely not be comfortable enough with the path of inflation by its next meeting in March to cut interest rates.

"Based on the meeting today, I would tell you that I don't think it's likely that the committee will reach a level of confidence by the time of the March meeting to identify March as the time to do that. But that's to be seen," Powell said.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed down 1.2% at 7,588.2 to snap an eight-day winning streak, also retreating from an all-time high.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 0.76%, ending at 36,011.46, while the Topix slipped 0.67% to retreat from a 34-year high and finish at 2,534.04.

In South Korea, the Kospi climbed 1.82% to close at 2,542.46, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell marginally to 798.73, its lowest level since November.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 0.33%, while China's CSI 300 rose marginally to 3,217.71, rebounding off near 5-year lows.

In the U.S., all three major indexes lost ground after the Fed announcement, with the Nasdaq Composite leading losses and tumbling 2.23%.

The broad-market S&P 500 fell 1.61%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.82%.

— CNBC's Brian Evans and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.

Japan's Aozora Bank hit 8-month low after warning of annual loss from its U.S. office loans business

Shares in Aozora Bank tumbled to their lowest level in eight months after the Japanese bank warned of a fiscal-year net loss due to its exposure to U.S. commercial real estate loans.

"Due to higher U.S. interest rates and a shift to remote work accelerated by COVID-19, the U.S. office market continues to face adverse conditions combined with extremely low liquidity," the bank said in a profit warning on Thursday.

"While price discovery is anticipated to eventually improve with a gradual increase in office transactions on the back of an expected return-to-office movement as well as a pause in the rise in U.S. interest rates, our view is that it may take another year or two for the market to stabilize," the bank added.

Aozora shares sank by as much as 21.5% to 2,557 yen (about $17.41), set for its lowest closing level since May 31.

— Clement Tan

Shares of India digital payment provider Paytm tumble maximum 20%

Patym shares tumbled 20% to its lowest in nearly seven weeks after the Indian central bank ordered the digital payment provider to stop taking new deposits for its popular wallet accounts from March.

The tumble in the shares of Patym, an associate of One 97 Communications, was the maximum allowed in a day on the Mumbai stock exchange.

One 97 Communications said in a statement it's "taking immediate steps to comply with RBI directions, including working with the regulator to address their concerns as quickly as possible."

The company added it "works with various banks (not just Paytm Payments Bank), on various payments products" and "will [now] accelerate the plans and completely move to other bank partners."

— Clement Tan

Caixin China manufacturing PMI at 50.8 in January, better than expectations

The Caixin China manufacturing PMI came in at 50.8 in January, according to a release on Thursday, after also coming in at 50.8 in December. This was better than the median expectation for 50.6 among economists that Reuters polled. The 50-point mark separates expansion from contraction.

This was a third-straight monthly expansion in China's factory activity, extending a divergence with official data that points to the patchy growth in the world's second-largest economy and underscores the need for policy support.

China's National Bureau of Statistics released data Wednesday that showed the country's official manufacturing PMI coming in at 49.2 in January, a fourth consecutive monthly contraction — compared with 49 in December.

Please read the full story for more.

— Clement Tan

South Korea's logs highest exports in 21 months in January

Data showed South Korea's exports rose by the most in 21 months.

South Korean exports rose 18% year-over-year to $54.69 billion last month, much higher than a 5% in December. The reading also topped a Reuters poll expectation of a 17.8% rise.

January exports were the biggest percentage rise since May 2022.

Following a year of downturn, South Korea's exports have been growing since October.

Data also showed imports falling 7.8% in January, after a 10.8% drop in December. A Reuters poll of economists expected a 7.6% fall. It was the slowest pace since March 2023.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

CNBC Pro: Jefferies names its 'highest-conviction' stocks to buy — and one has 118% upside

Investment bank Jefferies has revealed its top stock picks that are exposed to major themes like innovation, new products, and emerging markets.

A Chinese e-commerce giant, a chip stock, a European bank, an insurance giant, and a medical device maker are among the investment bank's "top picks," with one stock expected to rise by 118% over the next 12 months.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Hong Kong fourth-quarter gross domestic product accelerates, but misses expectations

Hong Kong's gross domestic product grew 4.3% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, accelerating from 4.1% in the third quarter.

However, this missed expectations from economists polled by Reuters, who was expecting a 4.7% growth figure.

For the whole of 2023, the city's GDP grew 3.2%, rebounding from the 3.7% contraction in 2022. In comparison, mainland China posted 5.2% GDP growth for 2023.

— Lim Hui Jie

CNBC Pro: Want to cash in on the weight-loss drug boom? Morgan Stanley names 4 global stocks

Drug manufacturers such as Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have been hot favorites among investors in the past year, given positive reception to their weight-loss medications.

"The uptake of GLP-1 (glucagon-like-pepitide-1) class AOMs (anti-obesity medications) has been unexpectedly robust, particularly in the U.S. where the drugs are propelling weight-centric goals to therapeutic guidelines," Morgan Stanley's analysts noted.

The implication of the drugs has been "less clear" for Asia, however, the investment bank said as it named several opportunities - and top stocks - to play the theme in the region.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

Powell: There's a 'ways to go' before saying soft landing has been achieved

Fed Chair Powell isn't ready to declare a "soft landing." The jargon describes a scenario where the economy is cooled without being tipped into a recession.

"Certainly, I'm encouraged and we're encouraged by the progress," Powell said. But "we're not declaring victory at all at this point. We think we have a ways to go."

— Alex Harring

Fed keeps interest rates unchanged

The Fed kept interest rates unchanged, as was widely expected. However, the central bank indicated it is not ready to start lowering interest rates just yet.

"The Committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent," the statement said.

— Fred Imbert

Oil on pace for first monthly gain since September as Middle East on the brink

Oil prices are on pace to book the first monthly gain since September as the U.S. and Iran stand on the brink of a more direct confrontation in the Middle East.

U.S. crude and global benchmark Brent are up 5.95% and 6.09% respectively for the month, though they were trading lower Wednesday on weak economic data out of China.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for March was last down $1.77, or 2.27%, to trade at $76.05 a barrel. The Brent contract for March was trading at $81.77 a barrel, down $1.10 or 1.33%.

China factory activity contracted for the fourth consecutive month raising demand concerns, while U.S. crude inventories rose by 1.2 million barrels last week.

Tensions in the Middle East are simmering with the U.S. preparing retaliatory strikes in response to the death of three U.S. soldiers in a drone attack by Iran-allied militants.

President Joe Biden says he holds Iran responsible for providing weapons to the militants. Iran has warned that it would take "decisive action" in response to U.S. strikes.

"The spreading conflict in the Middle East remains the most visible and growing risk for energy markets," Natasha Kaneva, head of global commodities research at JPMorgan, told clients in a research note Tuesday.

— Spencer Kimball

Bitcoin slips with stocks after Fed decision

Bitcoin fell as much as 2% on Wednesday afternoon as Fed Chair Jerome Powell said a rate cut at the central bank's March meeting may be "unlikely."

The price of the flagship cryptocurrency was last lower by 1.73% and trading at $42,884.05, according to Coin Metrics. Ether fell 3% to $2,302, while Solana dropped 5% and the token tied to Cosmos lost 4%.

While traditional investors see bitcoin as a young, risky asset crypto investors see it as a store of value compared to smaller and riskier altcoins.

"Although inflation has come down, the Fed signaled today that it has not yet secured price stability, and will hold off cutting rates for now," said Zach Pandl, head of research at Grayscale Investments. "This will likely strengthen the dollar over the short-term, and may be a temporary headwind for bitcoin."

— Tanaya Macheel