Jan 30 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian

markets.

Sagging tech stocks weighed on US indexes, as Wall Street

rethinks AI leadership after the arrival of DeepSeek, a Chinese

disruptor claiming big results at a smaller cost.

With many Asian markets still closed for the Lunar New Year,

Japan's Nikkei 225 will carry the baton after pretty

much cueing off Wall Street's ups and downs all week.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq briefly extended

losses after the Federal Open Market Committee closed out its

two-day policy meeting with hawkish hold that left markets

thinking rates might not come down again for a while, if at all.

After the market closed, earnings reports for three of the

Magnificent 7 stocks that spearheaded the bull market did not

shed much light. Microsoft ( MSFT ) shares initially fell more

than 3% in aftermarket trade, Tesla fell then bounced

and Meta dipped 1.3%. Apple ( AAPL ), another Mag 7,

reports late Thursday.

Early slippage in Apple ( AAPL ) and a 4.5% drop in AI-chip leader

Nvidia ( NVDA ) helped nudge the S&P 500 down 0.46% and the

tech-heavy Nasdaq down 0.51%. Microsoft ( MSFT ) closed off 1%, Meta up

0.3% and Tesla down 2.25%.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) has seesawed all week, recovering almost 9% on

Tuesday from a historic hammering on Monday after China's

DeepSeek said its AI models were cost-effective and ran on less

advanced chips compared to OpenAI.

The Federal Reserve was widely expected to leave rates where

they were, based on the signals out of the December meeting,

where policymakers lowered the fed funds target range 25 basis

points to 4.25%-4.50% for a total reduction of 100 basis points

since September.

Wednesday's unanimous decision to keep the overnight

interest rate at 4.25%-4.50%, coupled with language that dropped

a reference to inflation making progress toward the Fed's 2%

goal, puts the central bank in a holding pattern as officials

await further inflation and jobs data, and clarity on the impact

of President Donald Trump's policies.

The hold was no surprise since officials agreed at the

December FOMC that they were "at or near the point at which it

would be appropriate to slow the pace of policy easing,"

according to minutes of the session.

After flatlining all morning, Treasury yields popped, while

the dollar mainly held steady, after the 2 p.m. ET/1900 GMT

announcement, which was the first central bank decision since

President Donald Trump took office.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in the post-meeting news

conference that it is too soon to say what President Donald

Trump's policies will do and the central bank will take its time

assessing what the new government policy regime means.

"We don't know what will happen with tariffs, with

immigration, with fiscal policy and with regulatory policy,"

Powell said.

Here are key developments that could provide more direction

to markets on Thursday:

- Australia trade balance (Dec)

- US GDP (Q4 Advance)

- Apple ( AAPL ) earnings (after market close)

(Editing by Diane Craft)