Asia shares lower

By Susan Fenton

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian shares dipped on Thursday, and the dollar fell after the U.S. Federal Reserve vowed to keep rates near zero for "an extended period" and said the recovery of the world's biggest economy would be sluggish.

The Fed's pledge to stick to a very loose monetary policy was expected and gave investors little new to trade on, although its cautious economic outlook prompted light profit taking.

Shares of exporters were hit by Asian currencies' modest gains. The dollar index was flat at around 75.8 but the U.S. currency was quoted at 90.54 yen, down from 90.75 in late Asian trade on Wednesday, and slipped against other currencies.

"I do not think the Fed signalled any change," said Richard Grace, chief currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "The policy guidance remains the same. I think the downtrend in the U.S. dollar is intact and we could see the dollar index fall to around 74 in the short term."

Japan's Nikkei .N225 slid 1.4 percent as the yen's advance hurt exporters, but Nissan Motor (7201.T) was up 1 percent after soaring sales in China prompted the carmaker to reverse its annual outlook to a profit from a loss.

A rise in the Korean won, to as high as 1,174 to the dollar from 1,178.4 at Wednesday's close, also hurt exporters in Seoul where the KOSPI index tumbled 1.4 percent. That was despite upbeat economic data, including double-digit department store sales growth and a further rise in exports to China last month.

"Investors are looking at the first batch of fourth-quarter indicators now that we are unsure about whether markets will remain solid in November or not," said Kim Seung-han, a market analyst at HI Investment & Securities in Seoul.

The Dow Jones .DJI rose just 0.3 percent on Wednesday, giving up earlier gains after the Fed's statement, which said the lack of inflation pressure would enable it to maintain loose monetary policy.