US rate hike ends wait, but not uncertainty for Asia

The Federal Reserve's rate hike was welcomed in Asia as a sign of strength in the U.S., one of the region's biggest export markets. But it could complicate Chinese efforts to avoid a sharper economic slowdown and keep the yuan steady.

The U.S. central bank on Wednesday raised the Federal Funds Rate by a quarter percentage point, the first such increase in nearly a decade. The decision ended a long period of uncertainty about when the Fed would begin winding down the easy money deployed to help heal the economic damage of the 2008 financial crisis.