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Global stocks were mostly steady Thursday as investors digested the Federal Reserve's latest stance on interest rates.

The Stoxx Europe 600 flittered between small gains and losses in morning trade after the U.S. central bank kept a March interest-rate increase on the table but signaled concerns about global turbulence.

In its policy statement on Wednesday, the Fed said it was "closely monitoring global economic and financial developments" and "assessing their implications for the labor market and inflation."

Wall Street stocks fell after the announcement, as some investors hoped for a more explicit signal that the bank would be more cautious on rate increases.

"The [U.S.] market was looking for a more dovish statement, but the message is little changed from December," Marc Chandler at Brown Brothers Harriman wrote in a note.

But stock futures pointed to a 0.7% opening gain for the S&P 500 on Thursday, as investors continued to digest the Fed's views, and upbeat earnings from Facebook Inc. boosted sentiment. Changes in futures don't necessarily reflect market moves after the opening bell.

Facebook Inc. posted more than $1 billion in quarterly profit for the first time, sending shares sharply higher in after-hours trading.

European stocks initially moved higher Thursday as Brent crude rose 1% to $34.29, lifting energy shares. By late morning, however, the Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.4% as health care shares were hit by disappointing results from Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG.

Elsewhere, shares in Asia fell, tracking losses on Wall Street in the aftermath of the Fed's statement. China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.9% to close at its lowest level since November 2014, despite a large cash injection by The People's Bank of China.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed down 0.7%.

In currencies, the dollar initially weakened after the Fed announcement but later regained ground. The dollar was last up 0.2% against the yen at ¥ 118.7840 ahead of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision on Friday, while the euro was flat against the dollar at $1.0911.

The Fed lifted short-term interest rates by a quarter percentage-point in December after years of ultraloose monetary policy boosted asset prices, and penciled in four more increases this year.

Many investors were hoping recent turbulence in financial markets and concerns about global growth would pressure the Fed to change its tune on rates. Federal-fund futures, used by investors to place bets on central-bank policy, showed a slight decrease in the likelihood of a rate increase at the Fed's March meeting.

So far this year, "There's self-fulfilling panic in the stock market—stocks fall, and that dents the growth outlook," said Jonathan Bell, chief investment officer at Stanhope Capital, which oversees $9.5 billion in assets.

While he doesn't believe the economic picture is fundamentally different now than it was at the Fed's December meeting, "People are concerned and will spend less," he said. He prefers to invest in European over U.S. stocks, adding that the bull market in the U.S. is unlikely to continue.

"The global headwinds don't appear to be fading and the same can be said about their impact on the U.S. economy," Philip Marey, U.S. strategist at Rabobank, said in a note. He doesn't expect another rate increase before June.

In other commodities, London spot gold was down 0.4% at $1,118.85 an ounce.

Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 28, 2016 06:45 ET (11:45 GMT)

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