By Daniel Inman

Asian market were mostly lower Thursday after the Federal Reserve left monetary policy unchanged, while China was weighed down by declines in banking stocks.

The Fed met expectations by leaving its stimulus program unchanged at its policy meeting, though it did surprise with its upbeat assessment of the economy. Some investors were looking for the central bank to downgrade its economic outlook after the government shutdown and budget impasse earlier this month.

In fact, the government shutdown was a major focus for global markets in the first half of October. Asian stocks proved resilient through the drama, and most markets in the region look set to post respectable gains for the month.

The Philippines' PSE Composite and Indonesia's JSX were up 6.5% and 5%, respectively, month to date, while Australia recorded a 4% gain. China has been a laggard in October, as a rise in local interbank lending rates resulted in the Shanghai Composite giving back some of its gains from earlier in the month and was last down 1.5% so far in October.

With no positive catalysts from the Fed overnight, most regional markets dropped Thursday.

The Nikkei Average fell 0.4%, as the yen (USDJPY) strengthened a touch in Asia -- recently at Yen98.38 to the dollar, compared with Yen98.51 late Wednesday in New York.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3%, and South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.7%.

In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.6%, and the Shanghai Composite lost 0.8% on the mainland.

The regional earnings season progressed, with markets reacting to results in Australia, Japan and China.

Lenders in China were in focus after several of the country's largest banks reported their third-quarter earnings, with profit growth continuing to decline as the sector faced a maturing economy and interest-rate pressure.

Bank stocks came down in Hong Kong after a sharp increase during the previous session. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (IDCBY) rose 1.3%, and Bank of Communications (601328.SH) fell 2.6%.

China Minsheng Banking Corp. , (CMAKY) a stock that came under pressure during China's liquidity crisis in the summer, fell 3.1% in Hong Kong. The country's eighth-largest lender reported its interest income rose by just 3%.

Chinese brokerages posted strong profit growth for the nine months that ended in September, as the industry benefited from increased trading volumes and higher investment returns. The market didn't welcome the news: Citic Securities was down 0.7% in Shanghai, and Haitong Securities was 0.2% lower.

National Australia Bank (NAUBF) fell 1.9% in Sydney after the lender posted full-year earnings in line with market forecasts, though costs were ahead of expectations.

In Tokyo, ANA Holdings (ALNPF) declined 5% after the airline lowered its 2013 fiscal-year net profit forecast by 65% on higher fuel costs and slow service expansion because of delays in Boeing (BA) 787 Dreamliner deliveries.

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires